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PRACTICAL HYGIENE SERIES 

BOOK ONE 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 



BY 


O 5 


FRANCIS M. WALTERS, A.M., Sc.D. (hygiene) 

u 


INSTRUCTOR IN BIOCHEMISTRY, TIIE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY SCHOOL 
OF HYGIENE AND PUBLIC HEALTH. FORMERLY PROFESSOR OF PHYSI¬ 
OLOGY AND HYGIENE, STATE TEACHERS* COLLEGE, WARRENS- 
BURG, MO. AUTHOR OF “PHYSIOLOGY AND HYGIENE 
FOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS,” “ TIIE PRINCI¬ 
PLES OF HEALTH CONTROL,” ETC. 


“Modern hygiene teaching should show immediate 
results in the improved health of pupils” 


D. C. HEATH AND COMPANY 


BOSTON 

ATLANTA 


NEW YORK 
SAN FRANCISCO 
LONDON 


CHICAGO 

DALLAS 



^ NjS'*' 


Copyright, 1931, 

By Francis M. Walters 


No part of the material covered by 
this copyright may be reproduced 
in any form without written per¬ 
mission of the publisher. 


3 KO 


2>\ ” V'""\'A \ 

©CIA 33120 

M 12 1931 



PREFACE 


No one who has studied the period of growth will 
question its importance. It is a period of prepara¬ 
tion, and it is also a period of weakness. There is no 
other time in life when health agencies need to be ad¬ 
ministered with so much skill and no other time when 
a wrong administration is likely to do more harm. 
Growth itself must not be interfered with, but it must 
be safeguarded at every turn. Surely there can be no 
more profitable field for practical health work than is 
afforded by the groups of growing boys and girls in 
our public schools. 

Children are naturally interested in their growth. 
They are pleased with the gains they make from year 
to year and are looking forward to the time when they 
can enjoy the privileges and assume the responsibili¬ 
ties of adult life. This interest should be utilized in 
health building just as it has already been utilized as 
a stimulus to mental preparation. The proper utili¬ 
zation of this interest, moreover, will bring into help¬ 
ful action the most important of the factors pertain¬ 
ing to child life—the child’s intelligent effort in his 
own behalf. 

Too often children are themselves their worst 
health enemies. Through needless exposure, ex- 


IV 


PREFACE 


cesses of different kinds, and general failure to do for 
themselves what they should, they fail to realize the 
possibilities of their natural endowment. The op¬ 
posite condition should, of course, prevail. The 
school must see to it that they become health builders 
instead of health destroyers. To this end it must 
arrange programs of health instruction, direct the 
children in the formation of health-giving habits, and 
keep them interested in their health and their growth. 
This book aims to be a real help in the accomplish¬ 
ment of all these purposes. 

In the preparation of Book I, as well as of Book II, 
of the Practical Hygiene Series, the broader view has 
been maintained. The aim is not the development 
alone of a “good animal,” but of a human being thor¬ 
oughly capable of maintaining himself in the social 
and economic environment into which he is born. 
The chapters on mental growth are, therefore, a fit¬ 
ting climax to the chapters on physical growth first 
presented. 

In the selection and preparation of material for 
both books, means for motivation have been sought 
in the things about which we are most concerned— 
the body itself and the various agencies that affect *it. 
By bringing the child into a knowledge of his natural 
possessions and the conditions under which they are 
to be used, we have our best approach to the problems 
of health and growth. Interest aroused by a proper 
presentation of this kind should endure. 

Health training should, of course, begin in the 


PREFACE 


v 


primary grades. This beginning work, however, can 
be done better through individual instruction, sup¬ 
plemented by health examinations at stated periods 
and by health talks by the teacher or the school nurse, 
than by formal recitations. In the second book of 
this course, particularly adapted to the last two years 
of the elementary school, many suggestions will be 
found on the health problems of the school as a whole. 


Francis M. Walters 






TO THE TEACHER 


The purpose of this course is not primarily infor¬ 
mation, but the attainment of right attitudes and 
habits. The teacher of hygiene must remember that 
while “intelligence conditions what a child can do, the 
instinctive and emotional equipment determines what 
he will do/’ What the child learns about his body 
and the things that affect his growth is, therefore, of 
less moment than an appreciation of the value of 
good health, a wholesome desire to grow normally, 
and a good stock of health-giving habits. From the 
teacher’s standpoint, we may well take the following 
as objectives: 

1. Enjoyment of the course by all who take it. 

2. Living contacts between the subject matter pre¬ 
sented and the play life of the child. We should rec¬ 
ognize the play instinct as Nature’s call for health¬ 
giving activity and correlate our formal instruction 
with it. The spirit portrayed in Chapter XIII should 
permeate the whole course. 

3. Teacher and pupils all living healthfully as far 
as possible, or all playing the health game. 

4. Constant effort toward habit formation of the 
right kind. 

In the last-named objective we have our most dif- 

vii 


viii TO THE TEACHER 

ficult problem. Psychology, however, supplies some 

valuable aids. 

Laws of Habit Formation. —The two most im¬ 
portant of the laws of habit formation are the law of 
exercise and the law of effect. According to the law 
of exercise, “an act becomes habitual by actual fre¬ 
quent repetitions and in no other way.” Any act 
pertaining to the health, such as brushing the teeth, 
must be repeated again and again over a long period 
and without lapses, before it is actually built into a 
habit. It is no small matter, therefore, for a child to 
build a good habit or to destroy a bad one. 

According to the law of effect, “any act that is as¬ 
sociated with satisfaction is more likely to be repeated 
and built into a habit than one which is associated 
with annoyance.” Unfortunately many of the health 
habits are not associated with satisfaction, but on ac¬ 
count of discomfort or interference with play are as¬ 
sociated with annoyance. They lack, therefore, in 
natural motivation. Artificial motivation must be 
depended upon instead, and it is just here that the 
school can render its most valuable aid. 

Forms of Health Motivation. —The most impor¬ 
tant of the forms of health motivation is a strong de¬ 
sire on the part of the child to be healthy and to grow 
normally. The development of such a desire should 
be counted as the main purpose of our study. 
Through an appreciation of his bodily organs and of 
the different kinds of growth, this desire is normally 
developed and strengthened. 


TO THE TEACHER 


IX 


Coming second as a means of motivation for health¬ 
ful activity, is the desire for approval, especially the 
approval of the teacher. To obtain the full effect of 
this we should require health reports, have inspection 
days, and give health examinations. We should also 
cooperate with and approve of any health work that 
is being done by the home. 

A third means of motivation is the pupil’s grade in 
the course. Health habits and the ability to keep well 
should count half in the grade that is given and knowl¬ 
edge of the subject matter the other half. The mis¬ 
take should not be made of grading upon knowledge 
alone. 

Emphasize Present Needs.—One of the most 
fundamental of the principles of teaching is the relat¬ 
ing of the subject matter to the child’s present inter¬ 
est. While the application of this principle meets 
with difficulty in the case of some subjects in our 
course of study, there should be no difficulty in the 
case of elementary hygiene. It is to the present in¬ 
terest of the child to grow normally, to keep in good 
condition for his work and his play, and to get as much 
protection as possible from the ailments of childhood. 
In solving his hygienic problems of the present, he will 
be making the best possible preparation for the future. 



















































r 



















CONTENTS 


CHAPTER PAGE 

I. Growth in General.1 

II. Our Growth Is Like a Journey ... 7 

III. All That Our Growth Journey Should Be 13 

IV. Growth in Height and Weight ... 20 

V. Growing Up Straight .... 28 

VI. To Make Growth That Is Solid and Firm 37 

VII. Foods and Growth.47 

VIII. Sunlight and Outdoor Air 57 

IX. Growth and Sleep.66 

X. Growth and Habit Formation ... 73 

XI. Growth and Habit-Forming Drugs . . 80 

XII. Growth and Play. 90 

XIII. Playing the Health Game ... 98 

XIV. Our Two Hands. 107 

XV. Our Two Feet. 117 

XVI. The Mouth. 130 

XVII. The Eyes. 141 

XVIII. Nose, Throat, and Ears . . • .152 

XIX. Skin and Clothing ..... 165 

xi 





CONTENTS 


xii 


CHAPTER 


PAGE 

XX. 

Growth in Resistance 

. 174 

XXL 

Resistance and Colds 

. 183 

XXII. 

Mental Growth .... 

. 193 

XXIII. 

Other Forms of Mental Growth 

. 202 

XXIV. 

Avoidance of Accidents . 

. 210 

XXV. 

Other Ways of Preventing Accidents 

. 223 

XXVI. 

Our Maturity. 

. 232 

XXVII. 

Growing and Living 

. 238 


Weight—Height—Age Table I 

. 244 


Weight—Height—Age Table II 

. 245 


Index. 

. 246 


CHAPTER I 


GROWTH IN GENERAL 

This book, boys and girls, is to tell you about 
growth. You are sure to enjoy this study because 
there probably is nothing that can interest you more 
than growing. No matter whether you want to grow 
into a farmer or a doctor or an aviator or a homemaker 
or the manager of a tearoom, you want most of all to 
be happy and successful, to be the finest kind of 
farmer or doctor or aviator that there is. This book 
is going to tell you what it means to grow, how you 
should grow, and what will help you to grow in the 
best way possible. 

What It Means to Grow.—Growth, first of all, is 
not just getting bigger. Men and women are not 
simply babies grown large. Men and women are 
stronger than babies and can do more things. They 
can control their feelings so as not to cry at little hurts; 
they know more than babies and can think better. 
As we grow we become better able to care for our¬ 
selves and more capable in every way. We can get 
an idea of what it means to grow by studying the 
growth of some of the lower animals. 

Growth Changes in Animals.—If we watch young 
animals grow, we can see them doing new things day 
1 


2 OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 

by day and see the making of new parts. It is fun to 
watch an ugly, wriggling tadpole change into a hand¬ 
some green frog that can leap into the air and catch 
bugs, to see a woolly caterpillar turn into a beautiful 
butterfly. But it is just as easy to study warm¬ 
blooded animals and those that have hair upon their 
bodies, and these are more like ourselves. One of the 
best of the warm-blooded animals for showing changes 
due to growth is the white rat. 

The Growth of the White Rat.—People do not 
like ordinary rats, for they sometimes make them- 



Fig. 1.—A litter of new-born white rats 


selves a nuisance in attics and cellars, and they often 
spread the germs of sickness. But the white rats that 
scientists grow for experiments in finding out things 
that help us in our living make interesting pets. 
They are especially good for studying changes due to 
growth because they grow so rapidly. The whole 
lifetime of a white rat is only about three years. 
This means that they pass through all their changes 
in a very short time. You can almost see the young 
rats grow. 




GROWTH IN GENERAL 


3 


From Rat Babyhood to Rat Maturity.—The pic¬ 
ture on the opposite page shows a litter of new-born 
white rats. Their eyes and their ears are not yet 
open, and they have neither hair nor teeth. They 
can scarcely move about, but they can suck milk from 
the mother rat, breathe air, and do the other things 
they must for life and growth. To see how fast they 
grow, we can weigh them on delicate scales from day 
to day. The average baby rat, which weighs less than 
one-fifth of an ounce when it is born, weighs about 
one-third of an ounce at the end of the first week and 
two-thirds of an ounce at the end of the second week. 
In about ten months the young rat is full-grown, or 
mature, and weighs over ten and one-half ounces. 

Unfolding of Organs and Powers.—To see that 
the young rats do more than increase in size and 
weight, we have only to use our eyes. Scarcely able 
to move at first, the little rats become more active each 
day. At the end of three days their ears open; in 
sixteen days their eyes open, and they get their first 
view of things about them. Ten days after birth 
they have cut their front teeth, and thirty-five days 
after birth they have cut all their jaw teeth. When 
they are three weeks old, they can drink water and 
milk and eat solid food and so can be weaned. But 
you should see how they can run and climb and how 
well they look in their new coats of hair. Finally 
comes the day when they can hunt food, fight if neces¬ 
sary, build nests, and do the other things that you 
would expect of full-grown rats (Fig. 2). This 


4 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 

means that all their organs,* small and only partly 
formed at first, have grown to full size and can do well 
the work they were planned to do. 

The Cause of Growth.—What makes these rats 
grow? What makes us grow? The cause of growth 
is a something we do not understand, which we call 



Fig. 2.—A full-grown healthy white rat 


life. The young rats grow because they have life, or 
are alive. We grow because we are alive. Only liv¬ 
ing things, plants and animals, are able to grow. 

The Building Blocks of Growth.—The play¬ 
houses you build are not alive and so do not grow. 
But they are built up much as living things really 

* An organ is a part of the body that is arranged for some special 
work, as the eye for seeing. 



GROWTH IN GENERAL 


5 


grow. The playhouses get larger and larger as you 
add more blocks to their walls, and plants and ani¬ 
mals all grow by adding tiny pieces of living matter 
to their different parts. These tiny pieces of living 
matter are called cells. Although plant and animal 
cells are of all shapes possible and are so very small 
that a microscope must be used for seeing them, they 
can be thought of as the building blocks of growth. 
But where do these cells come from and how are they 
used in growing? 

Where Animals Obtain Their Blocks for Build¬ 
ing.—The new cells that are added when animals 
grow are formed within the body of the animal just as 
they are needed. They are made from cells already 
there. The animal takes in food, air, and water from 
the outside, and from them the cells get what they 
need to grow. When a cell has grown to full size, it 
divides into smaller cells. These now grow to full 
size in the same way; then they divide to form still 
other new cells. As the cells increase in size and num¬ 
ber, the body grows larger and larger until it has fin¬ 
ished growing, or, as we say, has reached maturity. 
New cells then stop forming except as they are needed 
to replace cells on the outside that have worn away or 
to repair parts of the body that have been injured. 

Human Growth the Most Wonderful of All.— 
The growth of the rat should interest us more than the 
growth of a plant. We say that a rat is a higher form 
of life than a plant, meaning that it has more organs 
and can do more things. But human beings are the 


6 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 

highest of all the forms of life. Besides having bodies 
that are better in many ways than the bodies of most 
of the lower animals, we have a power of mind that is 
better than that of any other animal upon the earth. 
It is through growth that the organ of the mind, called 
the brain, gets itself ready for each one of us. 

Facts Learned.—(1) By growing we increase in 
size, form new parts, and develop new powers. (2) 
Only living things — plants and animals — can grow. 

(3) These grow by forming tiny parts, called cells, 
which are built into the parts that are being formed. 

(4) While the growth of both plants and animals is 
very wonderful, the growth of human beings is the 
most wonderful of all. 

Questions 

1. What is it about the period of growth that makes it 
so important? 

2. Into what does a tadpole change by growing? Into 
what does the caterpillar change? 

3. Name some of the changes in the baby rat as it grows 
into a large rat. In a kitten as it grows into a cat. 

4. What are some of the ways in which a five-year-old 
child differs from a new-born babe? The ten-year-old 
child from the five-year-old child? 

5. Of what is the body made up that is similar to the 
blocks with which children play? Where does the body 
get the blocks it uses when it grows? 

6. How do we grow? 


CHAPTER II 


OUR GROWTH IS LIKE A JOURNEY 

While baby rats grow to maturity in ten months 
and some other animals in still less time, it takes hu¬ 
man beings from twenty-one to twenty-five years to 
finish their growth. Of course you want to know 
why we grow so slowly. 

Why We Need a Long Time for Growing.— 

There are two reasons for our long period for growing. 
In the first place, we need a long period of growing 
for the unfolding of our powers. Man is the most 
capable of all living things. There is almost no com¬ 
parison between what he can do and what any other 
animal can do. It takes longer to make a being that 
can drive an automobile or write a book or build a tall 
building than to make a white rat which can, at best, 
learn only a few tricks. 

In the second place, we grow slowly because our 
body is being prepared to last a long, long time. 
While the white rat is old at the age of three years, 
the dog at the age of ten years, and the horse at the 
age of twenty years, man should not be counted old 
until he is seventy-five or eighty years of age. The 
plants and animals that grow slowly are found to live 
longer than those that grow rapidly. 

7 


8 OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 

Our Growth Like a Journey—As we grow from 
year to year we seem to be carried along much as we 
are when we make a trip on a train or in an automo¬ 
bile (Fig. 3). In making any kind of trip we start at 
a certain place, travel through other places, and 



Fig. 3.—A delightful kind of journey 


finally reach our destination; that is, the place for 
which we set out. We do the same thing in our grow¬ 
ing. Of course our growth journey is much longer 
than any ordinary journey. It takes more time than 
is needed for making several trips around the world. 
Nevertheless the places on our growth journey are 
well marked so that there is no trouble in telling at 
any time just where we are. 







OUR GROWTH IS LIKE A JOURNEY 9 


Our Growth Journey by Stages. —We start with a 
stage called infancy, or babyhood. We then travel 
through such interesting stages as childhood, then 
boyhood or girlhood, then the “teen” age or adoles¬ 
cence. At last we reach our destination, which is 
adulthood, or maturity 
(Fig. 4). Although the 
journey is long, it is 
interesting; and the 
farther we go, the more 
interesting it becomes. 

The Babyhood 
Stage.—The first 
stage, babyhood, is 
probably the least in¬ 
teresting of all for the 
one making the jour¬ 
ney. Nobody knows, 
of course, what a baby 
thinks about as it looks 
out upon the world. 

But it hardly seems in¬ 
teresting to be able to 
do nothing but eat, 
crow, cry, and lie in bed 

waiting to be picked up. We can remember so little 
about our own babyhood that our parents have to tell 
us what we did when we were babies. Two years of 
steady traveling in infancy bring us to the next 
stage. 



Fig. 4.- 


-Growth stages 
same family 






10 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 

The Childhood Stage.—We can remember some¬ 
thing about the childhood stage of our journey. We 
can stand upon our feet and move about. We can 
talk and understand much that grown people say. 
We can eat all kinds of food, and we can use our hands 
to pick up things and move them about. Our 
mothers often have trouble keeping us out of mischief. 
But we grow fast and learn rapidly while in the child¬ 
hood stage and soon are ready for the stage when we 
are to start to school. 

The Boyhood and Girlhood Stage.—We have al¬ 
ready heard much about what we can do as boys and 
girls. Of course the main thing is to go to school, and 
this in itself is like being in a new country. But it is 
not long until we know the teacher and the other 
pupils and are feeling much at home. At school we 
learn to read and write and to make pictures, and play 
games. We also learn how to hold our own when 
there is any kind of trouble. As time goes on, we 
read bigger and harder books and understand more 
of what is said to us. We get better able to do things 
for ourselves. We can even help others. 

We like the country in which we are boys or girls so 
much that the traveling time seems to go faster and 
faster. Almost before we know it we are in another 
new land. This we find even more interesting and 
delightful than the land we leave behind. 

The “Teen” Age, or Adolescence.—When we ar¬ 
rive at adolescence, we begin to change into mature 
persons — into men and women. Until a girl is 


OUR GROWTH IS LIKE A JOURNEY 11 


about twelve years old and a boy about thirteen, their 
bodies grow in much the same way, and their interests 
are much the same. During the time of journeying 
through adolescence, boys develop the broad shoul¬ 
ders, strong muscles, deep voices, courage, and other 
qualities that mark men as men. Girls develop the 
form, features, interest in home and children, and 
other qualities that mark women as women. We are 
traveling faster and faster. Almost before we know 
it we begin to realize what it means to be fully grown 
up, to be mature persons, and to do the various 
grown-up things that mature people have to do. Our 
journey of growth is drawing to a close. 

Our Maturity.—Our maturity is the period of life 
that comes after growth is finished. It is the destina¬ 
tion we set out for more than twenty years ago. And 
if we have traveled in the best way, this period will 
last two or three times the number of years we spent 
on the entire journey of growth. During maturity 
we are in possession of all the powers that we devel¬ 
oped while we were growing. It is the period in 
which we can do and be all the things we have dreamed 
of for so long. But a successful maturity depends 
very much upon the years that have gone before, upon 
the character we have formed, the reputation we have 
made for ourselves, and the kinds of work we have 
learned to do. Most of all it depends upon what we 
did for ourselves during our journey of growth. 

Facts Learned.— (1) In the building of our bodies 
and the unfolding of our powers and in the experi- 


12 OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 

ences that come to us from year to year, our growth is 
like a journey through a new and wonderful country. 
(2) We need a long time for our growing. (3) In¬ 
fancy, childhood, boyhood and girlhood, and adoles¬ 
cence are like the places through which travelers pass, 
and reaching maturity is arriving at one’s destination. 
(4) What we accomplish as mature men and women 
depends largely upon the success of our journey of 
growth. 


Questions 

1. Why do we need so much time for growing? 

2. In what respects is our growth like a journey? 

3. Name our different stages of growth. How does 
babyhood differ from childhood? 

4. How does the adolescent period differ from all the 
other periods of growth? To what does it lead? 

5. Describe the period of life called maturity. Upon 
what different things does success during this period de¬ 
pend? 


CHAPTER III 


ALL THAT OUR GROWTH JOURNEY SHOULD BE 

What kind of journey should our growth journey 
be? First and most important, it should be a safe 
journey. This means that when we reach maturity 
we shall have bodies that are strong and healthy in all 
respects. Let us see how we can make our growth 
journey safe. 

The Main Thing on an Automobile Trip.—The 

most important thing to any one who takes a long 
overland trip in an automobile is the condition of the 
car itself. If the car is all right to start with and is 
kept in good repair from day to day, the journey is 
almost sure to be a safe one. Of course bad roads and 
bad weather may cause delay, but the worst thing of 
all is to have to stop because the car will not go. So 
the driver is careful to keep his car supplied with 
water, oil, gasoline, and a few things for quick repairs. 
And in dangerous stretches of road he drives with 
great care. There is real hygiene for automobiles 
just as there is for human beings. 

The Main Thing on Our Journey of Growth.— 
Nothing is more important on our journey of growth 
than the condition of our bodies from day to day or, 
as we say in other words, our health. For our body 

13 


14 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


is the car we travel in from babyhood to maturity and 
then through the rest of life. Good health is the best 
friend of growth , and poor health is its worst enemy. 
Poor health is car trouble that will delay our journey 
of growth or perhaps stop it altogether. If we have 
good health — a good automobile — and take care of 
it, we shall reach our destination in good condition. 

How We Make Our Growth Journey Safe.—We 
make our traveling safe by looking after our health, 
which we have just said is the most important thing 
on our journey of growth. The healthy body is able 
to produce new cells for growing and for making re¬ 
pairs. The healthy body does not get sick easily, 
does not have engine trouble and weak springs to 
slow our traveling when the going is rough. The 
healthy body is safe. We are the drivers of our body 
automobiles. Safety depends upon our keeping them 
in good repair. 

A Safe Journey not Enough.—If we arrive at ma¬ 
turity with strong and healthy bodies, we have done a 
fine thing — something that every boy and girl should 
strive to do. But something more is required. If we 
went in a car from Boston to San Francisco and did 
not look at the Mississippi when we crossed it and 
did not see the Grand Canyon or the Yosemite Valley 
or any of the lovely things on the way, and if we did 
not learn how to meet different kinds of people and to 
get along with them, and if we learned nothing new 
about driving and how to buy provisions, we might 
get to San Francisco safely, but we should have missed 


OUR GROWTH JOURNEY 15 

wonderful opportunities on the way. Similar things 
are true about our journey of growth. 

Our Growth Journey Should Be Successful 
Preparation for Living.—As we grow in height and 
weight we should also grow in ways that fit us to live 
as human beings. We must learn to be honest, in¬ 
dustrious, skillful. We must find out how to get along 
well with other people. We must do our school work 
well, read good books, see beautiful paintings, hear 
good music, and learn as much of the great outdoors 
as we can, while on our way to maturity. In doing 
these things we become capable and likable human 
beings — those ready to make the most of their ma¬ 
turity. 

Our Growth Journey Should Be Happy.—It goes 
without saying that every child wants to be happy. 
He wants to have a good time. But there are three 
other reasons for wanting to be happy all through the 
journey of growth. 

1. Happy children are healthier, as a rule, than 
unhappy children. 

2. To be happy ourselves has a good effect upon 
those about us. Happiness is contagious, or “catch¬ 
ing.” 

3. Happy children are more agreeable and kind 
than those who are unhappy. They get along better 
with other children and are better liked generally. 

How We Can Make Our Growth Journey Happy. 
—There are three main ways by which our growth 
journey can be made happy. 


16 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


1. It makes us happy to have good health, just as 
it makes us healthy to be happy. Then health and 
happiness work together against aches, pains, and 
the blues. 

2. It makes us happy to be successful in our work 
at school and at home. If we know we have done a 
good piece of work, we feel a warm glow of well-being. 
We feel we amount to something. 

3. It makes us happy if other people treat us well. 
This state of affairs may sound beyond our control. 
But if we make happiness for other people, other 
people make happiness for us. The Golden Rule 
works. 

Two Mistakes about Happiness.—A great many 
children think that happiness depends upon having 
their own way. This is a foolish mistake. Often an¬ 
other person's way is as good as ours. Perhaps it is 
better than ours. If the only happy persons were 
those who say, “I'll do it my way/' think how many 
unhappy people there would have to be! Sometimes 
giving up is happiness in itself. A second mistake 
about happiness is thinking it depends upon the 
things we have. If we have enough money to live 
healthfully and comfortably, we have enough to be 
happy. We should not worry about the fact that 
somebody else has more. The happiest people often 
have very little of what we call this world’s goods. 

Our Threefold Aim in Traveling.—We have said 
that we want our growth journey to be safe, success¬ 
ful in preparation for living, and happy. This is not 


OUR GROWTH JOURNEY 


17 


only the best way to grow, but it is the only way to 
reach the kind of maturity we want (Fig. 5). These 
three qualities, safety, happiness, and success, all de¬ 
pend upon one another. We cannot call ourselves 
safe if we are unhappy failures; we cannot call our¬ 
selves happy if we are unhealthy failures; and we 
cannot call ourselves successful if we are unhealthy 



Fig. 5.—Successful maturities 


or unhappy. We have to combine our three aims into 
one and journey from day to day as healthfully, hap¬ 
pily, and successfully as we can. 

Some General Rules.—You who are studying this 
book are already well along on the journey of growth. 
While you have not as yet reached the place where 
you can take complete charge of yourselves, you are 
better able to do this now than you ever were before. 
Here are some good rules for boys and girls who pride 




18 OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 

themselves on doing the right thing without having 
to be told each and every time. 

1. Put into practice what you already know about 
keeping well, obtaining the right amount of exercise 
and sleep each day, eating only at the regular meal¬ 
time, keeping the teeth clean, and dressing according 
to the state of the weather. 

2. Work when you work and play when you play, 
using your time to good advantage. 

3. Be kind and courteous to those about you and 
learn how to make and keep friends. 

4. Enjoy your work as well as your play, keeping 
cool under excitement and smiling whenever you can. 

Facts Learned.— (1) Our growth journey should 
be a safe journey, a successful journey, and a happy 
journey. (2) These three aims are all dependent 
upon one another, and all can be accomplished at the 
same time. (3) We do this by keeping healthy, mak¬ 
ing the best use of our time, and making ourselves 
agreeable and helpful to those about us. 


Questions 

1. What is the main thing on an automobile trip? 
What is the main thing on our journey of growth? 

2. Name some of the times when one must travel very 
carefully in an automobile. When must one manage 
very carefully on his journey of growth? 

3. What three things should be accomplished by our 
journey of growth? 


OUR GROWTH JOURNEY 19 

4. When may one be said to make a safe growth jour¬ 
ney? How do we help to make this journey safe? 

5. How does the successful growth journey differ from 
the safe growth journey? How do we make this journey 
successful? 

6. What is the need for happiness on our journey of 
growth? Name some of the aids to happiness. 

7. How may unhappiness hinder the growth journey? 

8. What mistakes are sometimes made about happi¬ 
ness? 

9. Show that the three aims of our growth journey de¬ 
pend upon one another. Into what one aim may they be 
combined? 


CHAPTER IV 

GROWTH IN HEIGHT AND WEIGHT 


Increases in height and weight are two kinds of 
growth which we have all noticed in ourselves and in 
our schoolmates. Do you 
* know how to measure them 
and to compare your weight 
with the averages for dif¬ 
ferent heights and ages? 

To Measure the Height. 
— For measuring the height 
we need a simple instru- 
ment like the one shown in 
Figure 6. If your school 
does not have such an in¬ 
strument, perhaps someboys 
who are handy with tools 
will make one and present 
it to the school. All that 
is needed is a wide board 
f —\ eighteen by twenty-four 
Fig. 6.—A device for meas- inches, a straight narrow 
uring the height board six feet long, a yard¬ 

stick, two small inch-square 
pieces of wood (one six inches and the other ten 
inches long), two narrow pieces of tin, and two small 
20 















GROWTH IN HEIGHT AND WEIGHT 21 

brackets. These are fastened together as they are 
in Figure 6. If you prefer, you can fasten the long 
straight board to the wall and do away with the short 
wide board and one of the brackets. 

In measuring the height, the pupil should stand in 
his stocking feet directly under the arm that slides up 
and down on the yard¬ 
stick. This arm is low¬ 
ered until it touches his 
head; then the inches 
on the yardstick are 
read off. To this must 
be added the distance 
from the lower end of 
the yardstick to the 
board or floor, which 
has been fixed, when 
the instrument was put 
together, at three feet. 

To Obtain the 
Weight.—For finding 
the weight you need 
some kind of scale. The kind of scale upon which you 
can stand and read your weight on a dial is very con¬ 
venient, but it is likely not to be so accurate as the 
kind of scale (Fig. 7) on which small weights are used 
to balance the weight of the body. Heavy clothing, 
as coat and shoes, is usually removed before taking 
the weight. It is a good idea, also, to take care to 
weigh yourself at about the same time of day. After 











22 OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 

eating a hearty meal you weigh more, of course, than 
you did before eating. 

How We Grow in Height.—Our growth in height 
is due largely to growth in our bones. We are really 
pushed upward by their growing. The bones are 
hard and stiff, and they form the framework of the 
body. The muscles and other parts are connected 
with this framework and are protected by it. As the 
bones in the legs grow longer and the small bones that 
form the backbone, or spinal column, grow in thick¬ 
ness, the entire body is made longer, and this increases 
our height, or makes us stand taller. 

Growth from Year to Year.—We do not grow the 
same amount each year, as we might expect to do. 
At times we grow very rapidly and at times very 
slowly. The time when we grow most rapidly is dur¬ 
ing the first year of our life. The average baby is 
about twenty inches long at birth, but grows to 
twenty-eight inches during the first year. Four 
inches more will be added during the second year, 
and three inches during the third year. A little over 
two inches will be added during the fourth and again 
during the fifth year (Fig. 8). From the fifth year on, 
the growth in height is still slower, although there are 
two periods when it is quite rapid. One of these 
periods is from seven to eight for girls and from eight 
to nine for boys. The other is from about eleven to 
fourteen for girls and from about thirteen to sixteen 
for boys. These are called the periods of rapid, or 
accelerated, growth. 


GROWTH IN HEIGHT AND WEIGHT 23 


The Rate of Growth in Height an Individual 
Matter.—When you compare your height with the 
average height of children of your age, you may find 
yourself two or three inches taller or two or three 
inches shorter than the average. If so, do not worry. 
Each child grows taller in his own way and according 
to a plan that heredity * has laid out for him. If his 
parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents are 
all tall, he will doubtless grow to be a tall man. To 
do so he must grow faster than the average child each 



Frn. 8.—Growth from birth to five years of age 

year. For the same reason, one whose parents, grand¬ 
parents, and great-grandparents are all short will grow 
less than the average from year to year. 

Height and Weight.—How much we grow in 
height, when considered alone, is usually not of great 
importance, because, as we have just said, each child 
grows fast or slowly according to the rate that is nat¬ 
ural for him. But as we grow in height, we also grow 
in weight, and it has been found that with healthy 
children the weight corresponds rather closely to the 

* Heredity means the passing of family traits from parents to chil¬ 
dren. 






24 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 

height. Just how much one should weigh for his 
height has been the subject of much study, and tables 
showing the general average have been worked out. 
Such a table for boys is shown on page 244 and a simi¬ 
lar one for girls on page 245. Height and weight 
tables have been much used in our public schools and 
you doubtless have heard about them already. 

How to Use Height and Weight Tables.—Should 
you like to know how your weight for your height and 
age compares with the average obtained by measuring 
and weighing thousands of children? If so turn to 
the table for boys or for girls, as the case may be, and 
proceed as follows: First, study your table, noting 
first that the column of figures on the left gives the 
height in inches while the numbers at the top give the 
age in years. Now find in the height column the 
number you obtain by measuring your height; then 
look for your age at the top of the table.* The num¬ 
ber where the horizontal line from your height meets 
the vertical line from your age is the average with 
which you are to compare your actual weight. For 
example, if you are forty-nine inches tall and are ten 
years old, fifty-five is the weight number with which 
you compare your own weight. If you come within 
four or five pounds of the average, well and good. 
But you should not worry if your weight is consider¬ 
ably more or considerably less than the average. 

* Age is taken at the nearest birthday; height at the nearest inch; 
weight at the nearest pound. A child is considered six years old at 
any time between five and one-half and six and one-half years. 


GROWTH IN HEIGHT AND WEIGHT 25 


What it Means to Grow in Weight.—To grow in 
weight as we should means an increase in everything 
that goes to form our bodies. It means that we have 
more muscle, more bone and brain substance, more 
material connecting the different parts of the body to¬ 
gether, and more of the different fluids found in the 
body. It also means an increase in our different kinds 
of power for as our organs get bigger they become 
more capable of doing the things they have to do. 
For these reasons, growth in weight is more impor¬ 
tant, even, than growth in height. 

Should Children of the Same Height and Age 
All have the Same Weight?—Whether healthy chil¬ 
dren of the same height and age have the same weight, 
depends upon their general build. There are differ¬ 
ent types of people, both old and young, as you may 
know. Some belong to the thick-set stocky type, 
others to the tall and slender type, and others to types 
in between. Those belonging to the same type should 
weigh about the same for their height and age, but 
this will be different from the weights of those belong¬ 
ing to the other types. Those of the thick-set stocky 
build will weigh above the average for all children and 
those of the tall and slender build will weigh below. 
It is natural that some should be heavier and some 
lighter than the general average. 

Our growth in weight, as well as our growth in 
height, it would seem, is an individual matter. We 
increase in weight according to an inherited plan 
which is different for different types of children. 


26 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


Our Weight and Our Health.—Whether being 
considerably above or considerably below the average 
found in height and weight tables means anything 
bad for the health is something which only the well- 
informed doctor can tell. Even for him to tell, he 
must take several other things into account besides 
the weight. But while our weight at any time tells 
us very little about our health, any great change in 
weight that takes place in a short time, may mean 
that something is wrong with the body and that we 
should see a doctor. So to weigh ourselves from time 
to time to see how well we are keeping up with our 
record of gains may help us to know whether we are 
growing as we should and whether all is well with the 
body. It is only in this way that we can watch our 
health by watching our weight. 

How We Aid Our Growth in Height and Weight. 
—There is really but one way to aid our bodily growth. 
We must eat enough of the right kind of food, sleep 
the right number of hours each night, spend much 
time out doors, and do the other things brought out 
in the chapters that follow this one. Our growth both 
in height and weight will take care of itself when we 
do all that we can to keep healthy. 

Never Worry about Your Weight.—If a child is 
not so light or so heavy as he thinks he should be and 
worries about it, he only makes matters worse. The 
mind has a strong effect upon the body, and this effect 
may be either good or bad. When we are too anxious 
and worry, the effect is generally bad; but when we 


GROWTH IN HEIGHT AND WEIGHT 27 


are in a happy state of mind the effect is good. So 
instead of worrying if our weight is not what we should 
like, we should go on doing what we think is best for 
our health, keeping happy and cheerful and looking 
on the bright side. In this way we shall have our 
mind working for, and not against, our health. 

Facts Learned.—(1) Increases in height and 
weight are the two kinds of growth that are best 
known and most easily measured. (2) As we grow 
in height we increase in weight and, for healthy chil¬ 
dren of the same age and build, the relation of height 
to weight is quite close. (3) Our best aid to bodily 
growth is to keep in good health from day to day. 
(4) Worry does not help the weight. 

Questions 

1. How do we measure the height? How do we find 
the weight? 

2. How do we grow in height? 

3. At what times does one grow most rapidly? Most 
slowly? 

4. Tell what it means to grow in weight. 

5. Tom is twelve years old, fifty-two inches tall, and 
neither stout nor slim. About what should he weigh? 

6. How do we aid our growth in height and weight? 

7. Why should we not worry if our weight is not what 
we think it should be? 


CHAPTER V 


GROWING UP STRAIGHT 

One very important thing in making a safe journey 
of growth is to keep the body in the right shape. 
With just a little care while we are growing, we can 
have the shape that Nature intended us to have. If 
we are careless about our shape we may grow into 
something that is both ugly and unhealthy. 

Why the Body Should Have Its Natural Shape. 
—There are three very good reasons why the body 
should have its natural shape. In the first place, we 
shall have better health. With the body in the right 
shape every organ and part of the body will be kept 
where it belongs and have the room that it needs. 
This helps us to keep well. In the second place, we 
look better. The well-shaped person is not only 
handsomer than the poorly-shaped one, but he looks 
stronger and more capable. Every one has more con¬ 
fidence in him. And in the third place, we can work 
better when we are in good shape, whether we work 
with our mind or with our muscles. Did you know 
that children in school who keep in good shape make, 
as a rule, better grades than those who do not? * 

* In a certain large school a careful record was kept in all the rooms 
of the pupils who were always standing and sitting up straight and of 
those who were not. The children did not know that such a record 
28 


GROWING UP STRAIGHT 


29 


Small Children Are Naturally Straight.—Have 
you any little brothers or sisters at home? If you 
have, ask them to stand up while you look at them 
from all sides. You will probably find that they 
stand up straight (Fig. 9). Then look at them care¬ 
fully as they sit in their little chairs. Nearly all chil¬ 
dren under six years of age stand straight and sit 
straight. Only a few are 
crooked when they are born, 
and only a few more get out of 
shape from sickness. Nature 
does her part in starting us 
straight on our journey of 
growth. We should be care¬ 
ful to keep in good shape as 
we travel along. 

How We Keep the Good 
Shape We Already Have.— 

We keep in good shape by sit¬ 
ting and standing in correct 
positions. Many different 
rules have been given for keep¬ 
ing the right shape, but the two best ones are very 
short and very easily remembered. They are: (1) 
Stand tall. (2) Sit tall. To prove to yourself what 
it means to stand tall, hold a short, straight stick level 
on top of your head with one end extending forward. 

was being kept. It was found, almost without exception, that the 
pupils who kept in good shape were making better grades in their 
studies than those who were frequently in a bad shape. 



are naturally straight. 







30 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


Go near enough to a wall for the front end of the stick 
to touch it ancl, standing in a slumped position, mark 
the place. Then stand tall, 
or straighten up, and see how 
much higher the end of the 
stick is pushed (Fig. 10). A 
boy standing tall is from one 
to two inches taller than he is 
when he slumps. 

In standing and sitting tall, 
we should also keep the chin 
down and the middle of the 
neck back. If we practise 
standing tall and sitting tall 
as much as we can, we shall 
have little trouble in keeping 
the good shape that we already 
have. 

How One Grows out of 
Shape.—Alexander Pope, an 
English poet who lived two 
hundred years ago, said, “As 
the twig is bent, the tree’s in¬ 
clined.” He had watched 
trees in their growing and had 
observed that if a small tree, 
or sprout, was held in a bent- 
over position, it would later 
grow into that shape. Pope also saw that this was 
true of people—true, in a way, of their minds and 



Fig. 10.—Standing tall 
makes one taller. 


















GROWING UP STRAIGHT 


31 


characters and true of their bodies. To grow out of 
shape, we need only to keep some bad position for a 
long time while we are young. 

You have seen children bending over as they stud¬ 
ied. You have also seen them slide their hips for¬ 
ward in their chairs when sitting, and you have seen 
them slump forward both when sitting and when 



F IG . 11.—A tree that started Fig. 12.— How it was helped 
wrong in its growing to grow straight 

standing. These are all ways of giving the body a 
bad shape into which it later may grow.* 

How Crooked Trees Are Made to Grow Straight. 
—The law of growth may work for our good as well as 

* No special harm will come from taking some bad position for a 
minute or two and then straightening up, as people do in resting. It is 
when the bad positions are kept for fifteen minutes or half an hour at a 
time and taken many times during the day that the natural shape of 
the body is injured. 




32 OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 

for our harm. This can also be shown by the growth 
of trees. For example, a man knowing about the 
habits of trees planted a young elm in his front yard 
for shade. It was a healthy little dree, but had one 
bad fault. It was badly bent over (Fig. 11). To 
cure this fault, the man tied a rope to the top of the 
tree and pulled it up straight. He then tied the other 
end of the rope to a stake (Fig. 12) and left it that 
way for the rest of the summer. 

During all this time it had to grow straight instead 
of crooked. When the rope was finally taken off, it 
remained straight. It had grown straight jrom hav¬ 
ing been held straight. This should be an encourag¬ 
ing lesson for those who have got out of shape in their 
growing. 

How Crooked Children Can Grow Straight.— 

When children are very badly out of shape, they are 
put under the care of doctors, who treat them much 
as the crooked tree was treated. The doctors put 
them in plaster casts or so bandage them that they are 
held in the right shape until the body can hold this 
shape itself. This is usually a long time — weeks 
and even months — and it is not pleasant to be so 
treated. But those needing such treatment do not 
object, for it is worth everything to get back into the 
right shape. However, for children who are only 
slightly out of shape, this treatment is unnecessary. 
Such children can, with a little effort, do for them¬ 
selves all that need be done in order to grow back into 
a fine shape. 


GROWING UP STRAIGHT 


33 


The Main Rule to Follow.—The small tree was 
simply held straight until it grew that way. If the 
child who is slightly out of shape will only hold him¬ 
self in the right shape for a good part of each day, he, 
too, will soon be growing up straight. The main rule 
to follow is this: Whenever you think of it, put your¬ 
self in the best shape possible and hold this shape as 
long as you can. Practice this rule in standing, in sit¬ 
ting, and in walking about. It is also a good plan to 
ask your parents and friends to remind you when you 
are in a bad position so that you can work harder to 
get back into good shape. 

How One Already out of Shape May Find the 
Correct Standing Position.—While the person who 
is naturally in good shape will take the correct posi¬ 
tion by standing tall, one who is out of his natural 
shape has a harder task. A good thing for him to do 
is to start with his feet. First, place the feet side by 
side with the toes pointing straight ahead. Second, 
push the hips back and draw in the abdomen.* 
Third, push up the chest and lower the chin, keeping 
the mouth closed. Fourth, push the top of the head 
as high as possible, standing tall. Fifth, relax all 
the muscles as far as this can be done, still keeping all 
these positions. 

Practice getting into good shape in this way until 
you can do it easily and quickly. A boy standing in 
correct shape will appear as in Figure 13. You need 

* The abdomen is the soft part of the body below the ribs. Its walls 
help greatly in holding the stomach and the intestines in place. 


34 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


not pay any attention to the shoulders; these will be 
correctly placed when the other positions are taken. 

To Find the Correct Position in 
Sitting. —When taking the correct 
position in sitting, we may also start 
with the feet. These should be side 
by side and on the floor. The hips 
should be pushed back and the abdo¬ 
men drawn in. The chest should be 
pushed up, the chin drawn down, and 
the head held high. One may or may 
not lean against the back of the chair. 
If he has to bend forward, he should 
bend at the hips and not in the middle 
of the back. 

Aids in Keeping the Right Shape. 

—To grow into the right shape, we 
must keep this shape most of the time. 
To do this is our hardest problem. 
There are so many things to make us 
forget, and it is hardly natural to keep 
one's mind always upon himself. 
Fortunately there are some splendid 
aids to keeping in good position, which 
can be used constantly. These in¬ 
clude the following: 

1. Properly made and fitted shoes. 

Yig. 13._This Slioes with low, broad heels and broad 

boy stands f° es help to keep us in correct posi- 
correctly. tions in standing and are a real help in 




Mk Wm 
[ \ /i 






GROWING UP STRAIGHT 


35 


growing straight. Uncomfortable shoes of all kinds 
cause us to take bad positions in standing, in order to 
protect the feet. Heels that are high and narrow are 
very bad for the shape. 

2. Hygienic school seats and chairs. These are 
seats and chairs so built that one can sit comfortably 
in them in a correct posi¬ 
tion (Fig. 14). They are a 
great help in keeping the 
right position while sitting. 

3. Properly fitted 
glasses for those who need 
them. Children who have 
to bend over in order to see 
print are forced to take bad 
positions in studying and 
in doing any kind of close 
work. Properly fitted 
glasses, by correcting this 
trouble, greatly aid one in keeping straight. 

4. Good back muscles. If the muscles of the back 
are weak, it is almost impossible to sit and stand 
straight even when we try hard to do so. To have 
success in growing up straight, we must have strong 
back muscles. The next chapter will tell us how exer¬ 
cise helps to make these muscles strong. 

5. Good postural habits. These are the habits 
that cause us to take correct positions in standing 
and in sitting when we are not thinking about them. 
Such habits should be formed early in life. Habits 



Fig. 14.—One kind of hy¬ 
gienic school seat and desk 











36 OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 

that cause us to take bad positions should, of course, 
be broken. 

Facts Learned. — (1) Although most children start 
upon their journey of growth in the good shape that 
Nature intended, many of them get out of shape be¬ 
fore the journey is completed. (2) In order to grow 
up straight, we must train ourselves to sit straight, 
stand straight, and to keep straight when we are walk¬ 
ing about. (3) If we do this, only some bad accident 
or serious illness can keep us from being in the right 
shape when we have finished growing. (4) If one 
has lost his good shape, he must work hard to win it 
back. (5) After this he must keep the right shape 
until his journey of growth is finished. 

Questions 

1. Name four good reasons for keeping the body in the 
right shape, especially while one is growing. 

2. What lesson may we learn from trees about growing 
up straight? 

3. What is the main cause for one’s growing into a bad 
shape? How is this cause avoided? 

4. What must a child who is still straight do in order to 
keep on growing straight? 

5. What must the child who is somewhat out of shape 
do to grow straight from now on? 

6. How may one who is somewhat out of shape take the 
correct shape in standing? In sitting? 

7. How is improving one’s shape like straightening a 
crooked tree? How does it differ? 

8. How do good eyes help us to keep a good shape? 
How do comfortable shoes help? 


CHAPTER VI 


TO MAKE GROWTH THAT IS SOLID AND FIRM 

Have you ever noticed the difference in people’s 
bodies? Some are solid and firm to the touch. Others 
feel soft and weak. There seems to be as much dif¬ 
ference in people as there is in the wood of different 
kinds of trees. 

Another Lesson from Trees.—Going through the 
forest when the weather is fine, we see little differ¬ 
ences between the trees that have hard wood and 
those that have soft wood. Both kinds look pretty 
with their spreading branches and green leaves. 
Both make a cool shade in which it is pleasant to 
linger on a hot summer’s day. But let us go through 
the forest after a storm! The oak trees, the hickory 
trees, and the other trees with the hard, firm wood 
look almost as they did on the bright days, and only 
here and there do we find a branch or twig that has 
been broken. This is not true of the softwood trees. 
The soft maples, the box elders, and the other softwood 
trees all have branches that are broken or twisted, 
and great numbers of leaves and twigs are lying on the 
ground (Fig. 15). Trees with soft wood cannot stand 
the storms so well as trees whose wood is solid and 
firm. 


37 


38 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


Weak People Cannot Stand the Strains of Life. 

—Persons with soft and weak bodies can live and en¬ 
joy themselves as long as everything is pleasant and 
easy, but they cannot stand so well the strains of life. 
Like the softwood trees, they are easily injured. 



Fig. 15.—Softwood trees fare badly in a storm. 


They cannot stand hard work (Fig. 16). They can¬ 
not stand getting wet or chilled. They cannot stand 
grief and disappointment and the strain that comes 
from great excitement. Even a slight accident may 
cause them much harm. Then when they are in¬ 
jured or sick, they suffer more and recover more slowly 
than those whose bodies are solid and firm. 





























GROWTH THAT IS SOLID AND FIRM 39 

Whether we are to be like hardwood trees or soft¬ 
wood trees when we are men and women, depends very 
much upon the way in which we grow as boys and 
girls. We should make solid and firm growth from 
day to day. 

Solid Growth and Exercise.—Solid and firm 
growth depends upon many things, but most of all 
upon the amount of 
exercise that one takes. 

Suppose we feel the 
arms of several chil¬ 
dren of different ages. 

We shall find that most 
of those who take 
enough exercise have 
well-formed and solid 
arms. Those who take 
little exercise have 
arms that are soft and 
weak. What is true of 
the arms is true of the 
entire body. Exercise 
helps us more than any¬ 
thing else to become solid and firm. Not to take exer¬ 
cise is the surest way of becoming soft and weak. 
There are several reasons why this is true. 

What Exercise Does for the Muscles.—Exercise 
has its greatest effect upon the muscles. Muscles 
that are exercised become larger and stronger. Those 
that are not exercised soon become soft and weak. 



work—something that soft-bod¬ 
ied people cannot stand 






40 



OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 

When we remember that almost half of the body is 
made up of muscles (Fig. 17), we can see what a dif- 


Fig. 17.— The muscular system 

ference exercise makes with the whole body. Hav¬ 
ing strong muscles makes us strong all over and keeps 
us from getting tired so quickly when we work or 


GROWTH THAT IS SOLID AND FIRM 41 


when we play. But we must not think that it is only 
the muscles that are improved by exercise. All the 
cells of the body are improved in one way or another. 
Especially does exercise improve certain cells found 
in the brain and spinal cord and in the nerves con¬ 
nected with these parts. 

Exercise and the Nervous System.—The nerves 
control the muscles. To make the muscles act, the 
nerves carry messages to them much like currents of 
electricity. These messages are called impulses , and 
most of the impulses are from the brain and the spinal 
cord. To produce impulses and send them to the 
muscles is exercise for cells that form the brain 
and spinal cord and the nerves. From such ex¬ 
ercise the nerve cells become stronger. Exercise 
also strengthens our nerve cells by making us sleep 
better. 

Exercise and Sleep.—Have you ever noticed how 
sleepy you have felt at night after a day of exercise— 
perhaps on Saturday or during a vacation? You 
have had hard work to keep your eyes open until you 
could get into bed, and have slept so soundly through 
the night that it was hard to wake up in the morning. 
But to sleep as soundly as we should, we need only 
enough exercise to make us tired when night comes. 
More than this is apt to make us restless, so that we 
do not sleep as well as we should. 

Children need plenty of sleep—considerably more 
than adults. Many of them do not get so much sleep 
as they need, even when they spend the right number 


42 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


of hours in bed. They are not sleepy. This is a sign 
that they need more exercise during the day. 

Value of Strong Nerves.—With strong and 
healthy nerves, we are not easily frightened, and we 
can take better care of ourselves in times of danger. 
Hard work hurts us less, and we can stand better the 
strains of life. We are better-natured and happier 
than we are when our nerves are weak. When we ad¬ 
mire and wish for strong nerves and good courage, we 
must not forget what exercise can do in helping us to 
obtain them. 

Exercise and the Appetite.—To make solid and 
firm growth, we must eat enough food of the right 
kind. Many children do not eat all they need be¬ 
cause they do not have the appetite. They may even 
dislike the taste of foods which are good for growth, 
such as milk and oatmeal. Exercise is the greatest 
of all the aids to the appetite. Children who get 
enough exercise and who do not eat between meals 
will have a good appetite when mealtime comes. 
They will eat more for their size than grown people 
and will enjoy the foods that are good for growth. 

Exercise and the Digestion.—Not only do people 
who take little exercise have little appetite, but they 
often have trouble in digesting what they eat. Those 
who take enough exercise have, as a rule, good diges¬ 
tion. Exercise seems to increase the saliva and other 
juices that digest the food and to strengthen the 
muscles of the stomach and intestines and those in 
the walls of the abdomen. It is a great aid to diges- 


GROWTH THAT IS SOLID AND FIRM 43 

tion to have all these muscles strong, and special exer¬ 
cises are sometimes taken in order to build them up 
(Fig. 18). 

Exercise Aids in Throwing Off Waste.—You 

have noticed how running and other kinds of hard 
exercise make you sweat. Sweating brings out waste 
through the skin. Exercise also makes one breathe 
faster and deeper. This causes more oxygen to be 
taken from the air and more waste to be thrown off 



Fig. 18.—A special exercise for the abdominal muscles 


through the lungs. On account of the good effect 
upon breathing, growing boys and girls should run a 
little every day. 

Exercise and Good Shape.—Besides giving us 
bodies that are solid and firm, exercise is our best aid 
in growing up straight, as we have already learned. 
To hold ourselves in good shape, we need strong 
muscles, especially in the back and neck and over the 
abdomen. Exercise makes these muscles strong and 
also makes our nerves strong for controlling them. 









44 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


This effect of exercise is greatly helped when we re¬ 
member to keep in good shape on the playground— 
good shape in moving about as well as in standing and 
sitting. 

When Exercise Is Harmful.—One can get too 

much exercise, as you may have found out for your¬ 
self. Overexercise lowers our weight and may even 
check our growth. It is just as harmful as too little 
exercise. What we need is the right amount of it. 
We should exercise enough each day to feel tired when 
night comes. But if we feel exhausted before night 
comes, we should stop and rest for a while or quit 
entirely for the day. 

Besides having the right amount of exercise, we 
should avoid any kind of exercise that may lead to a 
bad accident. Hanging on moving trucks, jumping 
from trains or automobiles, and swimming in deep 
water before one is an expert swimmer are some of the 
kinds of exercise that children should avoid. The 
number of children, especially boys, who are injured 
or killed each year by accidents for which they are to 
blame is indeed very great. 

Games for Exercise.—The games which children 
are so fond of playing often give just the kind of exer¬ 
cise needed. Every healthy child should learn all the 
school games that are suitable for his age and size, 
and then he should play them with the other children. 
The fun which one has from the game makes it all 
the better for the health. But games should never be 
played in such a manner as to get some one hurt. 


GROWTH THAT IS SOLID AND FIRM 45 


This means, for one thing, that the playground be 
kept in good condition. All the loose sticks and 
stones should be removed, and all the rough places 
smoothed down before the games are started. 

Work as Exercise.—We may think, at first, that 
work for exercise is not so much fun as games for 
exercise. But work, after all, is a kind of game. We 
can play the work game alone, or we can play it with 
others, and it is always fun when we are interested in 
what we are doing. Then work is such a wonderful 
• kind of exercise. It is exercise for a purpose, and the 
purpose is often so important that we forget that we 
are really exercising. Nevertheless exercise from 
physical work does us good just as exercise from play¬ 
ing games does. It strengthens the body at the same 
time that it is accomplishing something that needs to 
be done. If you have not already learned how to 
work at things about the home, you should begin this 
part of your education at once. 

Other Aids to Firmness and Solidity.—There 
are several other aids in growing solid and firm, but 
only two of them need to be studied at this time. 
These are foods of the right kind and life outdoors. 
Both are very important to growth and health in gen¬ 
eral. We shall read about them in the next two chap¬ 
ters. 

Facts Learned.— (1) There is a great difference in 
the bodies of people; this shows in the way they are 
able to stand different kinds of trouble and strain. 
(2) The strong and the sturdy can stand the severest 


46 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


trials; those who are soft and weak are easily injured. 
(3) Our greatest aid in developing strong bodies is 
physical exercise. This builds up the muscles, 
strengthens the nerves, improves the appetite, aids 
the digestion, and helps in throwing off waste from 
the body. 


Questions 

1. Why is it better to have a solid and firm body rather 
than one that is soft and weak? 

2. In what ways are weak-bodied people like the soft¬ 
wood trees? In what ways are they different? 

3. Describe the effect of exercise upon the muscles. 

4. In what two ways does exercise improve the nerves? 

5. Tell of an experience in which exercise caused you 
to sleep soundly. One in which it increased your appetite. 

6. In what ways does exercise aid in throwing off waste? 

7. What kinds of exercise should be avoided? 

8. Why should children learn to work as well as to play 
games? 

9. If your body is as strong and firm as it should be, how 
will you keep it so? If it is not so strong as it should be, 
how will you improve it? 


CHAPTER VII 


FOOD AND GROWTH 

Children like to eat, and it is well that they do. 
Eating is Nature’s way of supplying our bodies with 
the materials needed for life and growth. Because 
they are growing, children require more food for their 
size than adults do. 

Where Our Foods Come From.—Most of our food 
comes from the bodies of plants and animals, as you 
already know (Fig. 19). But where do you suppose 
plants and animals obtain what they give to us? To 
find the beginnings of our foods, we must go to the 
soil, air, sunlight, and water that are all about us. 
Through their roots, plants suck water and things 
that are dissolved in it from the soil. With their 
leaves they breathe a gas-like food, called carbon 
dioxide, from the air. By the aid of the sunlight 
shining upon their leaves they make, from the things 
taken from the air and the soil, the foods which they 
need for living and growing. But what plants make 
for themselves the animals can also use. By eating 
their leaves, seeds, stems, and roots the animals take 
the foods prepared by the plants and use them for 
their own ends and purposes. 

Thus, through plants alone or through animals and 
47 


48 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


then through plants, our foods can all be traced back 
to the air, soil, water, and sunshine around us. Can 
you prove the truth of this by tracing some of your 
common foods, as bread, milk, and potatoes, back to 
their beginning? 

What Our Foods Do for Us.—With the exception 
of oxygen, which we obtain from the air, our foods 



supply the body with everything we need for living 
and growing. They supply materials for building up 
our cells. They supply materials which give us heat 
and power, just as gasoline gives heat and power to 
cars. They supply liquids for dissolving the other 
foods and carrying them to the cells and for dissolving 
and carrying away our waste. And they supply sev¬ 
eral kinds of materials that serve as aids for the dif¬ 
ferent things the body must do. To serve all these 












FOOD AND GROWTH 49 

purposes, we must have many different kinds of 
foods. 

Building Foods.—There are certain foods that are 
used in forming new cells and in replacing worn out 
materials in old cells. These foods are called pro¬ 
teins, and they are of several kinds. They are found 
in large amounts in lean meat, in eggs, in milk and 
cheese, in beans and peas, and in all kinds of nuts. 
Foods rich in proteins, such as those named, are called 
building foods. For growing and for keeping our cells 
built up, we should have a good serving of some kind 
of building food at each meal. 

Energy Foods.—Energy foods are foods that do 
not become a regular part of cells, as do proteins, but 
which unite with oxygen, or “bum,” in the cells to 
give us heat and power. One kind of energy food is 
fat, and we find this in its best form in butter. An¬ 
other kind of energy food is sugar, which you know 
from its sweet taste. And a third kind of energy food 
is starch, which is the white substance found in po¬ 
tatoes, rice, corn, wheat, and other grains. We need 
about three times as much of energy food as we need 
of food for building up our cells. 

Water.—Water is the liquid used by the body in 
forming its own liquids, such as blood, saliva, and 
sweat. It is found within and between all our cells 
and forms, altogether, about two-thirds of the weight 
of the body. It is an aid in nearly everything the 
body does. Since we are constantly losing water 
through the skin, kidneys, and lungs, we must fre- 


50 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


quently take it into the body by drinking. Plenty of 
water is good for the health. 

Mineral Salts.—Mineral salts are the ashy sub¬ 
stances that are left behind when foods are burned 
outside the body. They are body-helpers in a num¬ 
ber of ways. They give us lime for our bones and 
iron for our blood. They make our foods more pal¬ 
atable, are good for our muscles, and serve other pur¬ 
poses. While they are present more or less in all our 
foods, they are present in largest amounts in fruits 
and vegetables. 

Our common, or table, salt is the mineral salt every 
one knows most about. Since our foods do not con¬ 
tain as much of this salt as our bodies need, it is used 
in cooking and is served regularly at meals. 

Vitamins.—Vitamins are the foods that occur in 
the smallest amounts of any of our foods. This, how¬ 
ever, does not keep them from being very important. 
They protect us from different kinds of disease and 
are useful in other ways. Five different kinds of vita¬ 
mins have been discovered, all of which are necessary 
in different ways to life and growth. Our meals 
should be so planned that we get a constant supply of 
the different kinds of vitamins. Foods rich in vita¬ 
mins are milk, butter, eggs, whole wheat, yeast, or¬ 
anges, tomatoes, and lettuce and other foods that con¬ 
tain the leafy parts of plants. Cod-liver oil, though 
not thought of as a food, is very rich in vitamins. 

What Children Should Eat.—Excepting babies, 
whose main food is milk, children may eat the same 


FOOD AND GROWTH 


51 


foods as their parents provided the parents eat what 
is best for people in general. Old and young alike 
must have sufficient amounts and varieties of build¬ 
ing foods, energy foods, mineral salts, and vitamins. 
But on account of the growth which children must 
make, there are certain foods that are especially good 
for them. The most impor¬ 
tant single food for them is 
milk. 

Milk for Growth.—Milk is 
Nature’s preparation for giv¬ 
ing the young animal all the 
things needed for its early 
growth. It is the best of all 
our foods for children (Fig. 

20). It contains protein for 
all the cells, lime for the bones, 
sugar and fat for heat and 
power, and vitamins for health 
in general. Milk, more than 
any other single food, causes 
rapid and healthy growth. Every child should have 
at least one pint of pure, whole milk each day, and 
some can use more to good advantage. The milk 
habit should be cultivated. 

Fruit Juice and Tomato Juice for Children.—It 
is sometimes necessary .to heat milk in order to kill 
germs that it may contain. In most of our large cities 
this is done regularly and on a large scale. This is for 
the protection of those who drink it. Heating the 



best food for growth 



52 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


milk, however, has one bad effect. It destroys one 
of its vitamins—the one called vitamin C. But it 
happens that tomato juice, orange juice, lemon juice, 
and fruit juices generally, are rich in this particular 
vitamin. By eating at one meal each day a tomato, 
an orange, an apple, or some other fruit, we make up 
for what is lacking in the milk. Even when the milk 
has not been heated, doing this is considered a good 
thing for the health. 

Liver as Food.—Liver obtained from either the 
beef or the calf is another food that supplies what 
may be lacking in milk, especially for certain chil¬ 
dren. Young rats fed on milk alone stop growing, 
but if liver is added to their diet, they start growing 
again. Besides aiding in the growth, liver is also one 
of our best blood-builders. Children who are pale in 
color from a lack of red cells in their blood have been 
greatly helped by well-cooked liver served two or 
three times a week. 

Cod-Liver Oil.—Although sold as a medicine, cod- 
liver oil is really a food. It is one of the richest of 
known foods in two valuable vitamins—vitamins A 
and D. Both of these vitamins are needed for growth, 
vitamin D being necessary for good growth of the 
bones. But while vitamin A is abundant in milk, 
butter, and a number of other foods, vitamin D is 
found in only small amounts in any of our foods. 
Even milk contains but little of it. Cod-liver oil, 
therefore, is our very best food for this vitamin. 
Doctors know about this, and many of them recom- 


FOOD AND GROWTH 


53 


mend a teaspoonful of cod-liver oil a day for each 
child during the winter months. The reason for giv¬ 
ing it only during the winter months is explained in 
the next chapter. 

Protective Foods.—There is no single food that 
contains everything the body needs in just the right 
amounts. Many foods, like sugar, are lacking in sev¬ 
eral respects. A protective food is one that protects 
the body in case one fails to get all the kinds of foods 
he needs. It protects the body by supplying what is 
lacking in the foods that are used. Milk, liver, fruit 
juices, and cod-liver oil are all protective foods. 
Other protective foods of great importance are the 
leafy parts of plants, such as “greens,” lettuce, spin¬ 
ach, cabbage, and kale. 

Growing children need at all times protective foods 
of different kinds. Some of them should be on the 
table at each meal. 

Drink Plenty of Water.—Although water is the 
most abundant of all our foods, very few people drink 
as much of it as they should. Growing children need 
plenty of water, and they may drink it during meals 
as well as between meals. At meals, however, it 
should be taken in sips and not used to wash down 
unchewed portions of food. One of the best times for 
drinking a full glass of water is in the morning before 
breakfast. 

Children and Candy.—On account of the sweet 
taste of candy children often fall into ways of using it 
that are harmful. Although candy is a food, giving 


54 OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 

us heat and power, it is a very incomplete food. It 
has no protein for rebuilding the cells and no mineral 
salts or vitamins. It also dulls the appetite for other 
and more important foods, and if eaten very much be¬ 
tween meals, it causes indigestion and decay of the 
teeth. On account of its harmful effects, some par¬ 
ents object to the use of even the smallest amounts of 
candy by their children. 

Other parents permit their children to use some 
candy, but insist that it be eaten during or just follow¬ 
ing the regular meal. The last-named plan is per¬ 
haps the best. 

To Keep up the Appetite.—A good appetite is not 
only a help in getting enough food, but it aids also in 
the selection of food and makes eating more enjoy¬ 
able. In doing these things it aids in digestion. By 
managing properly one can have a good appetite at 
each meal. The way to manage the appetite is as 
follows: 

1. Take sufficient exercise each day. Exercise im¬ 
proves the appetite. 

2. Avoid eating between meals. This will save 
the appetite for the regular meals. 

3. Do not overeat. If we overeat at one meal, the 
extra food that we have eaten will keep us from get¬ 
ting hungry in time for the next meal. 

Cheerfulness at Mealtime.—We eat more and di¬ 
gest better what we eat, when we enjoy our meals and 
are good-natured and cheerful (Fig. 21). This is be¬ 
cause of the effect which the mind has upon the 


FOOD AND GROWTH 


55 


muscles and glands of digestion. Cheerfulness at 
mealtime plays an important part in the happy growth 
j ourney already mentioned. But in addition to help¬ 
ing the one who is happy, it helps those with whom 
he eats, adding something to the general atmosphere 
of good feeling needed at every meal. 

Facts Learned.— (1) Nothing is more important 
for health and growth than foods of the right kind in 
sufficient amounts. (2) We must have building 



Fig. 21.—A time when all should be cheerful 


foods, energy foods, water, and several kinds of min¬ 
eral salts and vitamins. (3) On account of their 
growth children require more food for their size than 
adults do. (4) For the same reason children should 
eat generously of protective foods every day. 

Questions 

1. How do plants and animals differ with respect to 
their food? From what sources are most of our foods ob¬ 
tained? 


56 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


2. What different things do our foods do for us? 

3. Of what value is milk as a food? How much milk 
should each child have per day? 

4. Why should a child have a tomato or some kind of 
fruit at each meal? 

5. Tom does not like milk and refuses to drink it. Is 
Tom right or wrong in his refusal? Why? 

6. Why do the doctors frequently advise the use of cod- 
liver oil for children? 

7. In what ways may harm result from the use of 
candy? How may its harmful effects be avoided? 

8. What are protective foods? Name several ex¬ 
amples. 

9. What are the advantages of having a good appetite 
at each meal? How is this to be obtained? 


CHAPTER VIII 


SUNLIGHT AND OUTDOOR AIR 

Our journey of growth, like other journeys, should 
take us into the great outdoors. Direct sunlight and 
the fresh outdoor air are both necessary to health and 
growth. 

Sunlight’s Trip to the Earth.—You will all agree 
that ninety-three and one-half millions of miles is a 
very great distance. An airplane traveling at the 
rate of two hundred miles per hour would require 
more than fifty years to go that far. Yet this is the 
average distance that sunlight must travel in order to 
reach our earth from the sun. And strange to say, it 
makes the entire trip in a little over eight minutes. 
But this is no more wonderful than what the sunlight 
does after it arrives. 

What Sunlight Does for the Earth.—Upon reach¬ 
ing the earth, most of the sunlight is changed into 
heat, and this warms the air, the soil, and the large 
bodies of water. By warming the air more at one 
place than at another, it causes great movements in 
the air, called winds, and these winds carry moisture, 
as it evaporates from the oceans, out over the land. 
As the warm air cools, the moisture condenses into 
drops of water and falls as rain to wet and soften the 
57 


58 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


soil. Then the light falling upon the leaves of plants 
enables them to make the food needed for themselves 
and also the food needed for animals, as explained in 
the last chapter. In warming the air, soil, and bodies 
of water, in causing the winds to blow and the rain to 
fall, in helping plants to build up foods, and in other 
ways, sunlight is the cause of all life and growth. 
Without it our earth would be a cold and dead world. 

Sunlight and the Growth of Plants.—Sunlight 
not only causes plants to make their food, but it also 
helps them to use their food to good advantage. Tiny 
plants growing from seeds and sprouts growing from 
roots where the food is already prepared grow best in 
the sunlight. If a sprouting potato is kept in the dark, 
the sprouts grow very long and slender and make tiny 
leaves with almost no color in them. But if the 
sprouting potato is kept in the sunlight, the sprouts 
are short and thick, and the leaves that form are large 
and green. This kind of growth is much healthier 
than that made in the dark. 

Sunlight and the Growth of Animals.—It was 
formerly thought that because animals do not make 
their own food, they do not require direct sunlight for 
their growth. It is now known that while they can 
grow without the direct light from the sun, they grow 
much better with it. The pictures on the next page 
(Figs. 22 and 23) show two coops of chickens of the 
same age that had been fed the same amounts of the 
same kinds of foods. One coop received the direct 
light from the sun. The other coop was kept indoors 


SUNLIGHT AND OUTDOOR AIR 


59 



Fig. 22.— These chickens were well fed and cared for, but 
failed to get direct light from the sun. 



Fig. 23.—These chickens got light directly from the sun. 

Courtesy of J. S. Hughes and co-workers in the Kansas 
State Agricultural College. 





60 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


behind glass. The difference is not hard to see. Di¬ 
rect sunlight is a cause for healthy growth in chickens. 
The same results can be shown with other animals. 

Growing animals which do not have enough sun¬ 
light are liable to have a disease called rickets. This 
affects the whole body more or less but is most injuri¬ 
ous to the bones. The bones fail to harden as they 
should, the leg bones being unable in some cases to 
hold up the body. The chickens shown in Figure 22 
are all suffering from a disease called “limber leg/' 
which is the same as rickets in children. 

Sunlight and the Cure of Diseases. —Chickens 
that have been kept from the sunlight until rickets 
has developed quickly recover from this disease when 
placed in the sun. Sunlight has also been success¬ 
fully used in curing rickets in children. Another dis¬ 
ease that has been successfully treated with sunlight 
is tuberculosis of the bones and the glands. In the 
treatment of both tuberculosis and rickets children at 
the beginning are exposed only for short periods and 
with the light striking only a small part of their bodies. 
As the skin begins to tan, more surface is exposed for 
a longer time. After a good coat of tan has devel¬ 
oped, the entire body is exposed for long periods. 
We are just beginning to know what a wonderful thing 
pure sunlight is for health and growth. 

All the Sunlight Necessary.— The rays of sun¬ 
light are of two kinds—visible light that we can see 
and invisible rays that we cannot see. The visible 
light gives the colors of the rainbow—red, orange, yel- 



SUNLIGHT AND OUTDOOR AIR 


61 


low, green, blue, and violet. These can all be shown 
by holding a prism in the direct light from the sun 
(Fig. 24). The row of beautiful colors thus formed 
is called the spectrum. While the invisible rays do 
not show in colors they act upon photographic plates 
and can be studied from the pictures which they form. 
There are several kinds of invisible rays, but the kind 
which concerns us most is called by scientists the 
ultra-violet light. It is the ultra-violet light that we 
most need for health and growth. 

INFRARED 
RED 

ORANGE 
YELLOW 
GREEN 
LIGHT BLUE 
DEEP BLUE 
VIOLET 

ULTRAVIOLET 

Fig. 24.—A prism separating sunlight into its visible and 
invisible rays. 

Unfortunately the ultra-violet rays do not pass 
through ordinary window glass. This keeps us from 
getting their effects when we are indoors. Even in a 
well-lighted room these rays are almost entirely ab¬ 
sent. To obtain them, we must have outdoor sun¬ 
light upon the bare skin (Fig. 25). 

Sunlight and Germs.—Because ordinary window 
glass does not allow the ultra-violet light to pass 
through, we must not get the idea that well-lighted 
rooms are no better than poorly lighted ones. Sun¬ 
light can kill many kinds of germs that cause disease, 
and this is true of the light that comes through win¬ 
dow panes as well as of the light outside the house. 





62 OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 

On this account, we want plenty of light in all our 
rooms, especially during the winter months. But, 
while this is true, we should take advantage of every 
opportunity for going outdoors. There is another 
reason for getting out besides the difference in the 
light. It is the difference in the air. 

Outdoor Air. —Even when we do our best to keep 
the indoor air in good condition by ventilation, it is 



than the other. Is there a reason? 

seldom so good for the health as the air which is out¬ 
doors. The outdoor air is cooler, as a rule, than the 
indoor air and has more movement. On account of 
its coolness and its movement it causes the cells of our 
bodies to be more active. Outdoor air also has a good 
effect upon the linings of the nose, throat, and lungs. 
By keeping these healthy, we take cold much less 
easily. 

Why the Doctor Does not Prescribe Cod-Liver 
Oil for Children in Summer. —Those exposed enough 





SUNLIGHT AND OUTDOOR AIR 


63 


of the time to direct sunlight are able to make in their 
bodies the most important of the vitamins contained 
in cod-liver oil; that is, vitamin D. The summer days 
are much longer, as you know, than the winter days, 
and the sunlight then is much more direct and power¬ 
ful. Then it is generally warm and dry in the sum¬ 
mer and much easier to be out every day. Conse¬ 
quently in summer there is no need of our taking cod- 
liver oil in order to obtain enough of vitamin D. We 
can make it in our own bodies for ourselves through 
the aid of our good friend, the sun. 

Precautions.—From our study of this chapter we 
should resolve to observe faithfully one of the most 
important of the laws of health and growth. This is 
the law of outdoor living. Everyone should spend as 
much time outdoors as possible. In doing this, we 
have two important precautions to observe—one for 
winter and one for summer. 

The Winter Precaution.—In winter keep the feet 
dry and avoid becoming badly chilled. Being chilled 
for a long time and going about with wet feet are both 
frequent causes for illness, especially colds. No harm 
comes to the healthy child, however, from being cold 
for a short time. 

The Summer Precaution.—In summer protect the 
eyes from direct sunlight and avoid “sunburn” and 
the other injuries that result from direct exposure of 
the tender skin to the sun. At the beginning we 
should expose only small portions of the skin and we 
should do even this for only a short time each day. 


64 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


Not until a good coat of tan is formed, should we try 
long exposures of large surfaces. 

Our Homes for Protection and Convenience.— 
As we think about the importance of outdoor life, we 
must not forget that the houses in which we live are 
also important. They protect us from wet and cold 
and from living enemies that can do us harm. They 
supply places for keeping our clothing, food, cooking 
utensils, furniture, and the other things needed for 
everyday living. And they provide places for rest 
and privacy and for the care of those who are sick. 
All this is important for health and growth. The mis¬ 
take is made when we spend too much time indoors 
and forget the wonderful things on the outside. We 
fare best when we get our outdoor life and indoor life 
in right proportions. 

Facts Learned.—(1) Every child, and every grown 
person as well, should spend a considerable part of 
each day outdoors. (2) One purpose in doing this is 
to secure the healthful effects of direct sunlight upon 
the body. (3) Another purpose is to obtain the good 
effects of outdoor air. (4) Indoor life is also im¬ 
portant, but in other ways. 

Questions 

1. Name several interesting facts about sunlight. 

2. Which is more important, sunlight or food? Give 
reason for answer. 

3. In what two ways does sunlight aid in the growth of 
plants? 


SUNLIGHT AND OUTDOOR AIR 65 

4. Give proofs that sunlight aids in the growth of ani¬ 
mals. 

5. What two diseases can be cured by direct sunlight? 
How are these diseases prevented? 

6. Compare the sunlight as it shines through our win¬ 
dows with the direct sunlight outdoors. 

7. Why is outdoor air better than indoor air? 

8. What precautions should be observed in going out¬ 
doors in winter? In taking sun baths in summer? 

9. James takes cold very easily and on this account 
stays much of the time indoors where it is warm. Is he 
right or wrong in this? Why? 


I 


CHAPTER IX 
GROWTH AND SLEEP 

Have you ever gone to bed at night so tired that you 
could hardly keep your eyes open while you were un¬ 
dressing? Then have you waked in the morning all 
rested and ready for another day of play and work? 
You have, of course; so you already know something 
<jf the wonderful things that sleep does for the body. 

The Wonders of Dreamland.—Going to sleep is 
often much like visiting a new and wonderful coun¬ 
try (Fig. 26), but not always the same country by any 
means. In fact, our dreams are seldom the same 
from time to time. Often we are in lands that are 
bright and beautiful—full of sunshine, birds, flowers, 
and fairy-like people who are very kind. But some¬ 
times we find ourselves in cold and lonely places with 
dangerous rivers, wild animals, and people bent on 
doing us harm. When the scenes are bright and 
beautiful, we can sleep on and enjoy them. If things 
become too exciting, or we meet with some mishap, 
we can quickly escape by waking up. 

Should we believe in dreams? Only to the extent 
that they tell us something of the condition of the 
body. When we are in good health, we have pleasant 
dreams or none at all. Bad dreams usually mean that 
66 


GROWTH AND SLEEP 


67 


everything is not just as it should be. Anything 
strongly affecting the nerves, as getting frightened, 
or worrying, is a cause for bad dreams. Other causes 
are too much hard play after supper or eating some 
rich food, like mince pie, at this meal. 

What Sleep Does for Us.—Sleep does three things 
for us which are of the greatest importance. 



1. It rests the body. From our play and work dur¬ 
ing the day, waste matter is formed at the cells faster 
than the body can throw it off. It is formed in the 
brain, in the muscles, and in the nerves—in fact, all 
through the body. This gives us the tired feeling 
which we call fatigue. While we can free ourselves 
of waste by simply resting, we rid ourselves of it faster 
and more completely by sleeping. The kidneys, the 
lungs, and the skin all aid in throwing off this waste. 





68 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


2. It aids the body in rebuilding. On account of 
our work and our play, we use up materials in the cells 
of the muscles, brain, and other parts of the body 
faster than they can be replaced. During sleep the 
entire body is almost completely quiet. This enables 
the cells everywhere to replace what they have lost 
during the day. In this way, as well as by resting us, 
sleep prepares the body for the next day’s work and 
play. 

3. It aids the young in growing. # When we are 
moving about in work and in play, and even when we 
are sitting still, the body is using up the same kinds of 
materials that it needs for growth. When we are 
asleep, much of this is saved for growth. It is only 
by getting enough sleep that we can be sure the body 
is getting enough of the materials needed for its 
growth. 

Sleep and School Work.—While sleep benefits all 
parts of the body, it benefits the brain and nervous 
system most of all. With a rested and refreshed brain 
and nervous system, we can do better school work and 
we can do it more easily. With enough sleep each 
night our school days will be more enjoyable and 
happy and also more successful than they could be if 
we were tired and cross from lack of sleep. 

Amount of Sleep Needed by Children.—While 
children require more sleep than adults, all do not, of 
course, require the same amount. The older the 
child, the less he needs, until the eight-hour require¬ 
ment of adult life is reached. A child from six to 


69 


GROWTH AND SLEEP 

nine years of age needs from ten to eleven hours of 
sleep out of every twenty-four; a child from nine to 
twelve needs from nine to ten hours. But during 
most of the time from fourteen to twenty the amount 
should be about nine hours on account of the rapid 
growth during this, the adolescent period. 

Some young people, however, require more sleep 
than others of the same age. Delicate and nervous 
children require more sleep than those who are 
' healthy, and those doing heavy work in school require 
more than those doing light work. To a large extent 
one must find out for himself how much sleep he needs. 

How We Know When We Have Enough Sleep. 
—Do you wake up in the morning without being 
called? Do you feel rested and strong during the 
day? Do you enjoy your play? And are you able 
to keep wide-awake during the reciting of lessons? 
If your answer to these questions is “Yes,” you are 
probably getting enough sleep; but if it is “No,” 
Nature is probably warning you that you should go 
to bed earlier. 

It is claimed by some that we can get too much 
sleep. While this claim is possibly true, it is some¬ 
thing about which young people do not have to worry. 
Their problem is to get enough. 

How We Obtain Enough Sleep.—We must, first 
of all, allow ourselves enough time for sleeping. We 
must go to bed early enough in the evening and get up 
late enough in the morning to have spent the required 
time in bed. For example, the child of six who should 


70 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


have eleven hours of sleep per day must retire not 
later than seven-thirty in the evening if he is to rise at 
six-thirty in the morning. Of course one could go to 
bed later and rise later in the morning, but in this way 
he would not obtain so much of the valuable sunlight 
and the freshness of the early morning air. 

After the proper hour has been decided upon, we 
must go to bed promptly when the hour comes. Then, 
too, we must be in the mood for sleep. The day with 
its work, its play—its hardships, perhaps—has come 
to a close, and we are tired and sleepy. For our own 
good we must go to sleep as soon as possible. So we 
take a comfortable position, close our eyes, and lie 
very still. Then almost before we realize it, we are 
asleep. 

Aids to Sound Sleep.—Sound sleep, which is often 
dreamless, is much more refreshing than the sleep 
during which we are excited by bad dreams or wake 
up often. We have five valuable aids to sound sleep, 
as follows: 

1. A suitable room in which to sleep. The sleep¬ 
ing room should be cool, quiet, dark, and well venti¬ 
lated, but free from drafts. 

2. A comfortable bed. The bed must be neither 
too warm nor too cold. The mattress should be upon 
good springs and sufficiently thick. And the pillow 
should be rather solid and just high enough when one 
lies on his side to support the head on a level with the 
rest of the body. 

3. Enough exercise during the day to give a com- 


GROWTH AND SLEEP 


71 


fortable feeling of weariness on retiring. We sleep 
less soundly than we should both when we take too 
much and when we take too little exercise. 

4. A quiet mind. We must forget our troubles 
and also our work when we go to bed, not thinking of 
anything if possible. Talking in bed keeps one awake 
by exciting the mind. Worrying when one does not 
fall asleep as quickly as he thinks he should has the 
same effect. 

5. Sleeping alone. In sleeping alone we usually 
have more room, greater comfort, and less disturb¬ 
ance. These all help us get quiet and ready for sleep. 

There is usually nothing to worry about when one 
does not fall asleep quickly after getting into bed or 
when one wakes up during the night. Many people 
who are light sleepers are perfectly healthy. One 
who is unable to sleep from any cause should take a 
comfortable position and lie quietly. This will rest 
the body and aid in its rebuilding, as well as help one 
get to sleep. 

The Midday Nap.—Sleep during the day is usu¬ 
ally unnecessary for healthy children over six years 
old. For those who are weak and tire easily and 
those who are recovering from some kind of illness, 
some daytime sleep is needed. The best time for this 
nap is just after the noonday meal, but one should 
not sleep too long—usually less than an hour. In 
schools and sanitariums for weak children the midday 
sleep is a part of the daily program for the upbuilding 
of health. 


72 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


Facts Learned.—(1) Sleep rests and rebuilds the 
body and is one of our best aids to growth. (2) Be¬ 
cause they are growing, young people require more 
sleep than adults do. (3) W^eak and sickly children 
require more sleep than those who are strong and 
healthy, and the more active children require more 
than those less active. (4) Good health and good 
growth both depend upon our getting all the sleep we 
need. 


Questions 

1. What three things does sleep do for us? Why do 
young people require more sleep than adults? 

2. How does sleep aid in giving us a safe journey of 
growth? How does it help in making our growth journey 
successful? 

3. John is seven years old and not so healthy as he 
should be. He goes to bed at ten and gets up at seven- 
thirty. What improvements in his sleeping hours would 
you suggest? Why? 

4. How can one tell when he is getting enough sleep? 

5. Name some aids to sound sleep. 

6. What should one do when he fails to go to sleep 
quickly or to sleep as soundly as he thinks he should? 

7. What children are benefited by a noonday sleep? 
Why should this usually be for a short period only? 


CHAPTER X 


GROWTH AND HABIT FORMATION 

Although the forming of habits is not growth in the 
sense of becoming larger, it may be growth in the 
sense of increasing our powers. Unfortunately the 
forming of a habit does not always make us more ca¬ 
pable and useful. It sometimes does the opposite. 

What Habits Are.—A habit may be defined as the 
ability to do a certain thing or act in a certain way 
without having to think about it. Take, for example, 
a habit which all children should have—that of going 
to bed at an early hour. Suppose a child has never 
formed this habit, but stays up as late every night as 
his parents will allow. He or some one else must 
think about the time and decide when it is best for 
him to retire, and as we might guess, there is often a 
conflict of opinion. As a result he often fails to get 
to bed in time for his needed hours of sleep. On the 
other hand, if a child has the habit of going to bed at 
a certain hour, he retires when the time comes as a 
matter of course. He needs no urging from his par¬ 
ents for he has an inner urge—a habit—that is suf¬ 
ficient. 

What Our Habits Do for Us.—Our habits help us 
to do things rapidly and with ease, saving our time and 
73 


74 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


energy. Especially do they save effort on the part 
of the mind. The mind, as you know, must learn 
many things and plan for life in general, besides di¬ 
recting the body in its work. By forming habits, the 
mind does not have to decide what is best to be done 
under each and every circumstance. This gives it 
time for other things. On this account, we may think 
of habits as servants of the mind to save it from un¬ 
necessary work. But just as there are servants who 
are dependable and servants who are not, we may have 
good habits and bad habits. 

When Habits Are Good and When Bad.—Habits 
that aid us in our work of living and growing and in 
making our way in the world are good habits. Habits 
that injure health and check growth are bad habits. 
We must also count as bad habits any that hinder us 
in our work or that make it harder for us to keep on 
good terms with our neighbors. We can, as a matter 
of fact, form good and bad habits in connection with 
everything we do and in all our ways of acting. 

Good and Bad Social Habits.—Social habits have 
to do with our treatment of others and our response 
to their treatment of us. They include our method 
of greeting people (Fig. 27), how we act when a favor 
is asked of us, and our manner of talking, laughing, 
and behaving in general. Good social habits cause 
people to respect us and like us. Bad social habits 
cause us to be disliked and sometimes to lose the re¬ 
spect of others. In order to live happily with people 
and to work and play with them successfully, we must 


GROWTH AND HABIT FORMATION 75 


have good social habits. Such habits are also a great 
aid in our own advancement. 

Good Habits of Work.—We should work when 
we work and play when we play, and habits that cause 
us to do this are good 
habits. Laughing and 
talking while we are 
trying to solve prob¬ 
lems or learn lessons 
are bad habits because 
they will not let us keep 
our attention upon 
what we are trying to 
do, as you may'have al¬ 
ready learned. Other 
good habits of work are 
the habit of doing our 
best under all circum¬ 
stances, the habit of 
finishing any worth¬ 
while work that has 
been started, and the 
habit of leaving things 
in order after the work 
has been finished. 

Habits of Honesty.—Every child has to learn at 
some time the principle of honesty and to form the 
habit of putting it into daily practice. You have all 
seen babies and very small children pick up things 
that they liked and that were within reach. Some- 



Fig. 27.—A happy greeting 








76 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


times a child may, without thought of wrong, take 
another's playthings or even steal money to spend for 
candy. He has not as yet formed habits of honesty. 
But it is quite a different matter when grown people 
or boys and girls in their teens have failed to form 
these habits. The penalty may be imprisonment, al¬ 
though there is another punishment which is just as 
bad: people lose confidence in us and cease to trust us. 

Habits of honesty in the use of words are important, 
too. We have made real progress in character-build¬ 
ing when we are able to make our words at all times 
express the actual facts. 

Habits for and Habits against Good Health.— 

While social habits, work habits, and habits of hon¬ 
esty and dishonesty may all affect our health indi¬ 
rectly, there are other habits that affect our health in 
a direct and positive manner. Habits of eating and 
drinking, habits of retiring at night and of rising in 
the morning, habits of exercise and of cleanliness, and 
habits of using certain drugs all affect the health di¬ 
rectly. Good habits for health are those that lead to 
bodily improvement and aid in keeping us well. Bad 
habits for health are those that do the opposite. 

How Habits Are Formed.—The method of habit 
formation is that of repetition. By doing a certain 
thing over and over again we are able in time to do it 
without thinking about it. The repetition produces 
in time a condition in the brain and nerves that causes 
the act to be done without a special order from the 
mind. It is then a habit. All our habits are formed 


GROWTH AND HABIT FORMATION 77 

in this way. It does not make any difference whether 
we are trying hard to form a good habit or are form¬ 
ing a bad habit without realizing it. It is the repeti¬ 
tion that counts. So you see that we should be very 
sure before we start doing something over and over 
again that we are going to form a good habit and not 
a bad one. 

Our Habits as Part of Ourselves.—Some people 
when they hear the ringing of the alarm clock which 
they set for themselves the night before, stretch and 
yawn and drop back to sleep. Others who would like 
to keep on sleeping, too, rise quickly and dress. You 
can see that these two kinds of people have formed 
different habits. In fact, people can be recognized 
by their habits somewhat as they are recognized by 
their features and the color of their hair. For this 
and other reasons our habits must be looked upon as 
a part of ourselves. 

But our habits fortunately are not permanent parts 
of ourselves, as our hands and our eyes are. They 
are changing more or less all the time. All through 
life old habits can be broken and new habits formed. 

How Habits Are Broken.—Habit breaking de¬ 
pends upon a very important fact. Our habits are 
temporary conditions. If we stop doing the thing 
that caused any one of our habits to be built up, the 
habit itself becomes weak and finally we no longer 
have it. To keep up our habits, we must keep on do¬ 
ing the things that caused them in the first place. 
To break them, we have simply to stop doing the 


78 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


things that led to their formation. They will then 
disappear of themselves. 

The work of habit breaking, however, will go on 
faster if we can build up a good habit at the same time 
that we are breaking a bad one. This is usually not 
hard, for nearly always when one is breaking a bad 
habit he has in mind a good habit to take its place. 

Drug Habits.—Drug habits are more easily formed 
and more difficult to break than ordinary habits, and 
many of them cause great harm to the body. The 
more common of the drug habits are considered in 
the next chapter. 

Some Worth-While Habits.—Already in our 
study we have found places where habits of the right 
kind would help greatly in supplying the things 
needed for good health and growth. Habits that all 
boys and girls should have include the following: 

1. Habits of cleanliness and of keeping things in 
order about us. 

2. Habits that cause us to sit and stand in good 
positions. 

3. Habits of exercise and habits that cause us to 
spend a good part of each day outdoors. 

4. Habits of eating only at mealtime and of eating 
the foods needed for health and growth. 

5. The habit of retiring early at night and of rising 
promptly in the morning. 

There is a reason also why we should form these and 
other good habits as soon as it is possible to do so. 

Youth the Time of Habit Formation.—Although 
we can make and break habits as long as we live, the 


GROWTH AND HABIT FORMATION 79 


time when habits are most easily made and broken is 
the time when we are growing. This is why youth is 
called the formative period of life. Young people, 
therefore, must be especially careful to form habits 
that are going to be their friends, rather than those 
which will be enemies. To think of it in another way, 
we must become masters of our habits instead of let¬ 
ting them master us. 

Facts Learned.— (1) Good habits add to our bod¬ 
ily powers. (2) Bad habits lessen our powers and in¬ 
terfere with health and growth. (3) Habits are 
formed by repeating acts again and again. (4) They 
are broken by stopping entirely the acts that caused 
them in the first place. (5) Youth is the best time of 
all for forming the habits needed for a successful and 
happy life. 


Questions 

1. Under what conditions is the formation of habits like 
bodily growth? When is it of an opposite nature? 

2. Define a habit. How does it save work on the part 
of the mind? 

3. When are habits good? When bad? 

4. Name some good social habits. Some good habits 
of work. 

5. What are health-giving habits? Name several. 
How are they obtained? 

6. How should one proceed in order to break some bad 
habit? 

7. Why is youth the best of all times for the formation 
of good habits? 


CHAPTER XI 


GROWTH AND HABIT-FORMING DRUGS 

There are a number of substances called drugs, 
which, if used for a short time, cause habits that are 
very hard to break. While some of these do not con¬ 
cern us now, there are others that we should know 
about for our protection. 

How Drug Habits Differ from Other Habits.— 

Ordinary habits, as we have already learned, are 
formed chiefly by repetition. But in the formation 
of drug habits, we have two causes at work. These 
are repetition and the effect of the drug itself. The 
drug causes an appetite, or craving, which becomes 
very strong when the one who has the habit of using 
a certain drug fails to obtain it. It is because of this 
appetite, or craving, that drug habits are more easily 
formed and are harder to break than habits are gen¬ 
erally. Then the drug, besides causing an appetite 
for itself, is very apt to injure the body in other ways. 
On account of this injury, drug habits are frequently 
more harmful than other kinds of bad habits. 

The Need for Special Care by the Young.—Be¬ 
cause of their harmful effect upon the body, habit¬ 
forming drugs can easily interfere with our journey 
of growth. They can keep us from making a safe 
80 


GROWTH AND HABIT-FORMING DRUGS 81 

journey, a successful journey, and a happy journey. 
Nor does the trouble stop with our growing. If we 
carry a drug habit through the formative period of 
life, we shall find it very hard to throw it off when we 
are grown. It will become a part of ourselves perma¬ 
nently—a part that always hinders and never helps 
in the work of living and making our way in the world. 

Many of these habits start in ways that are inno¬ 
cent and without any intention of habit formation. 
People are caught by the drugs much as wild animals 
are caught in traps. 

How Bruin Junior Was Caught.—Bruin Junior 
was a young black bear who lived in the Rocky Moun¬ 
tains. He was the son of Bruin Senior and Mrs. 
Bruin, both very intelligent bears who knew all about 
hiding from hunters and keeping out of their traps. 
This information they gave Junior as best they could. 
Especially had they warned him about a certain path 
leading to a spring where they all went at times for 
water. But Junior was fond of this path. It was so 
much easier to follow it to the spring than to go over 
rough stones and through thick bushes as did his par¬ 
ents. He had tried it several times, and nothing bad 
had ever happened. 

But a hunter one day saw Junior's track in this 
path and at once set an ugly trap, concealing it with 
leaves and twigs. Junior stepped into this as he was 
making his usual trip to the spring. The trap caught 
one of his toes and held him tight (Fig. 28). Poor 
Junior! He had been caught while doing a perfectly 


82 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


natural and innocent thing. But many other bears, 
and people as well, have been caught the same way. 

Junior, however, did not lose his life from getting 
caught. Excited and angry, he began to fight des¬ 
perately to free himself from the trap. He finally 
succeeded in breaking loose, but it was with great pain 
and by leaving one of his toes behind. He regretted 
the loss of his toe, and he was lame for months, but he 
saved his life and learned a 
valuable lesson. He was 
even more fortunate than 
some of the people caught 
at times by habit-forming 
drugs. 

One of the habit-forming 
drugs about which we hear 
much these days is alcohol. 
Fig. 28 . Bruin Junior is j s a treacherous drug and 
caught in a trap. (me capable of very great 

harm. 

The Alcohol Habit.—The habit of using alcohol 
usually starts in a mild way by drinking beverages 
containing small amounts of alcohol, such as wine and 
beer. No harm seems to come from this at first, and 
one is easily led to drinking them in larger amounts 
as he has the opportunity. In time the appetite for 
alcohol is formed, and this appetite grows along with 
the habit formed by repetition. Unless the habit is 
broken, effects begin to show upon the health and the 
ability to work, and intoxication may at times occur. 



GROWTH AND HABIT-FORMING DRUGS 83 

If one now fails to see his danger and goes on drinking, 
the results may be the worst imaginable. The end in 
many cases is death. 

But even before the habit is formed, alcohol is hav¬ 
ing other bad effects upon the body. These are con¬ 
sidered in Book II of this course. 

Why the Sale of Alcohol Is Prohibited.—We 
have, as you know, a national law which prohibits 
the making and selling of alcoholic drinks. While 
this law is a great protection to the man with an appe¬ 
tite for alcohol and also to his family, its greatest use 
has been of another kind. It has rid our country of 
thousands of alcohol traps for catching young men 
and boys in their teens. These traps are called sa¬ 
loons, and, before the days of prohibition, they were 
found in great numbers in all our cities and larger 
towns. The saloon traps were so effective in catch¬ 
ing boys and young men that there was always a new 
army of drinkers to take the place of the old ones as 
they died off. 

But while the saloon is gone, there are still other 
alcohol traps to catch people. One of the worst of 
these is frequently found in the home. 

The “Home Brew” Trap.—Sugar, when it fer¬ 
ments, forms alcohol. Since the juice of grapes and 
of other fruits contains sugar, it will ferment quite 
readily. This fermented juice may contain from two 
to eight per cent of alcohol. These and other similar 
beverages containing alcohol are now made in many 
homes and, in some cases, for use by all members of 


84 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 

the family. Unfortunately some persons forget or 
do not know that the “home brew” drinks may be just 
as strong as the beer and wine used before prohibition 
and just as capable of doing harm.* 

The Drug in Tobacco— The habit-forming drug 
found in tobacco is an oily substance called nicotine. 
It forms in the tobacco plant while it is growing and 
is found mainly in the leaves. It has a sharp taste, a 
strong, irritating smell, and is of the nature of a 
poison. It dissolves in the saliva when tobacco is 
chewed and appears in the smoke when tobacco is 
burned. From either the smoke or the saliva it can 
be absorbed into the blood. It acts strongly upon 
the nervous system, causing a habit which is very 
hard to break. In large amounts it injures the heart, 
eyes, and other parts of the body. 

Tobacco and Growth. —There is considerable 
proof that tobacco, when it is used to any great extent 


* How wine and beer may affect the work of school children is shown 
by the following investigation. “A school director in Vienna observed 
that certain children were especially disobedient and unsatisfactory 
pupils. He noted finally that most of them came from homes where 
parents allowed them to have alcoholic drinks (wine or beer). With 
the help of his teachers he secured reports on the scholarship of 588 
pupils. These he divided into four groups — those who never used 
alcoholic drinks, those who drank occasionally, those who drank once 
a day, and those who drank twice a day. He found that the best 
grades were made by those who used no alcoholic drinks at all and the 
poorest by those who drank twice a day. The more frequently the 
wine or other alcoholic liquors were used, the poorer was the school 
work.” This investigation at least shows that weak alcoholic drinks, 
including “home brew” products, should not be served to children. 


GROWTH AND HABIT-FORMING DRUGS 85 

by the young, checks the growth. Doctors report 
that children working in tobacco factories are much 
stunted in their growth, and animals given nicotine 
in their food have stopped growing at their usual rate. 
Studies have also been made of the size and weight 
and the scholarship of boys in school who smoked, 
and the results compared with the records of the boys 
who did not smoke. 

Effect upon Schoolboys. —“In a certain public 
school, twenty boys who smoked and twenty boys who 
did not smoke were studied for several months. The 
average age of the boys was fourteen years. It was 
found that ninety-five per cent of the boys who 
smoked were under size and weight for their age and 
were far behind in their studies. Of the twenty boys 
who did not smoke, only ten per cent were under size 
and weight for their age and behind in their studies/’ * 
According to these studies, our journey of growth can 
be neither safe nor successful if we use tobacco to any 
great extent. 

Tobacco Traps. —There are many tobacco traps 
for boys to fall into as they grow up. Everywhere 
the boy goes, he sees men smoking. He reads won¬ 
derful advertisements in magazines and upon bill¬ 
boards, praising the different brands of tobacco for 
the pipe, cigars, and cigarettes. He is fortunate, in¬ 
deed, if he does not have to breathe a tobacco-scented 
atmosphere in his home. Boys have inquiring minds, 
and they like to experiment. If they fail to realize 
* The Good Health Magazine, February, 1922. 


86 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 

the dangers that lurk in these traps, they may try 
smoking for themselves. But if they smoke many 
times, the appetite for nicotine will begin to develop, 
and almost before they know it, they may have a 
rapidly forming habit. Most of the boys now smok¬ 
ing have been caught in this way. 

Why the Young Must Avoid Tobacco.—While 
the tobacco habit does no one any good, there are 
special reasons why it should be avoided by young 
persons. Four good reasons besides the one already 
given are as follows: 

1. Young people are more easily injured in every 
way than are mature people. If we take up smoking 
at all, it should not be until our bodies are as strong 
as growth can make them. 

2. A habit started early in life and continued until 
maturity is much harder to break than one started 
later. The tobacco habit is hard enough to break 
when started at any age. 

3. The tobacco habit grows upon one. As time 
goes on more and more tobacco must be used in order 
to satisfy the nicotine appetite. The later we start, 
the less time it has to grow. 

4. The tobacco habit is an expensive habit. It is 
hardly fair to the man one later is to become to fasten 
upon him this needless burden. He may need all 
his money for something more worth while than to¬ 
bacco. 

Pain-Killing Drugs and Their Trap.—Morphine, 
cocaine, and several other drugs are used by doctors in 



GROWTH AND HABIT-FORMING DRUGS 87 

relieving pain. While they are serving this good pur¬ 
pose, some of them may do great harm because they 
are habit-forming and act very strongly upon the 
nervous system. Their power to relieve pain is for 
many people a very tempting trap. If they have 
headache, toothache, or pains in the stomach or joints, 
they are strongly tempted to take some pain-killing 
drug for relief. Many people have innocently fallen 
into the pain trap. 

The Aspirin Trap.—Aspirin is used more than 
any other single drug for relieving pain. This is be¬ 
cause it is supposed to cause no appetite, as do other 
pain-relieving drugs, and to be harmless in other re¬ 
spects. But aspirin is not a harmless drug. It 
weakens the heart and in large doses may even cause 
death. Even if it causes no appetite, as some doctors 
claim, the habit of taking it for every little pain could 
easily be formed by repetition alone. Please remem¬ 
ber this if you are ever tempted by the aspirin trap. 

How We Avoid Pain Traps.—The best way to 
avoid pain traps is to find other and better ways of 
managing ourselves. In the first place, we must live 
as healthfully as possible. Most of our pains are the 
result of some kind of poor health. In the second 
place, we must find and remove the causes of our pains 
as they occur. The purpose of pain, as you may 
know, is to warn us that something is wrong in the 
body. When we find what the trouble is and correct 
it, the pain stops of itself. In the third place, we 
should learn to endure pain when it is necessary that 



88 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


we do so. It is a part of life. And, finally, we must 
never take any drug or medicine to relieve pain un¬ 
less it is prescribed by the doctor. 

Coffee and Tea Habits.—Coffee and tea both con¬ 
tain a habit-forming drug called caffein. Although 
many people use tea and coffee in ways that do little, 
if any, harm, the habits should be avoided by children. 
Both are hard on the nerves, and both may interfere 
with digestion. They may also dull the appetite for 
the nourishing foods which every young person needs 
for growth. Like the other habit-forming drugs, 
they have their traps into which we may thoughtlessly 
fall. But from what has already been said, you 
should be able to recognize these traps and to keep 
out of them. 

How We Break Loose If Caught.—In breaking 
a drug habit we follow the same plan as in break¬ 
ing habits in general. We stop repeating the acts, or 
doses in this case, that led to the habit in the first 
place. When we have refrained long enough, the 
habit, including the appetite for the drug, will dis¬ 
appear. If we have had the habit a long time how¬ 
ever, we shall have to make a hard fight to keep from 
repeating, just as Bruin Junior had to make a hard 
fight when he was caught. But winning will be as 
worth while for us as it was for him, and we, also, shall 
learn a valuable lesson—that of avoiding habit-form¬ 
ing drug traps in the future. 

Facts Learned.—(1) Traps are good things to keep 
out of; they are never for the benefit of those who are 


GROWTH AND HABIT-FORMING DRUGS 89 


caught. (2) There are traps all through life, but 
the drug traps that catch us while we are young are the 
worst. They keep our journey of growth from being 
the great success that it otherwise would be. (3) If 
we are still free, from drug habits, we must remain 
free. (4) If we have been caught by some of their 
traps, we must by all means break loose. 

Questions 

1. How do drug habits differ from habits in general? 

2. In what sense is the forming of a drug habit often 
like an animal’s being caught in a trap? 

3. How is the alcohol habit formed? 

4. Which of the alcohol traps was destroyed by the pro¬ 
hibition law? What traps still remain? 

5. What is the habit-forming drug in tobacco? In tea 
and coffee? 

6. What are the special reasons for the avoidance of 
the tobacco habit by the young? 

7. John’s father was using a package of cigarettes a day 
when he stopped smoking at the age of twenty. He gave 
John the problem of finding how much he saved in the next 
fifteen years by breaking the habit when he did. The 
cigarettes cost fifteen cents a package and John counted 
the interest at six per cent and compounded it annually. 
What was John’s answer? 

8. Name some drugs for deadening pain. How do we 
avoid habits of using them? 

9. What lesson did Bruin Junior learn from getting 
caught? What similar lesson should one learn who has 
formed and broken the habit of using some harmful drug? 


CHAPTER XII 


GROWTH AND PLAY 

Youth is generally considered the playtime of life, 
and there is a good reason why we should play more 
during this period than later. Play is a great aid in 
making our growth journey all that it should be. 

How Play Aids in Making Our Growth Journey 
.Safe.—Less tiring than work, play is especially valu¬ 
able for the health. It gives pleasant exercise and 
does not often lead to overexercise. Play takes us 
outdoors where we are benefited by the fresh air and 
the bright sunlight. It is an aid in growing up 
straight and in making growth that is solid and firm, 
as we have already learned. It has been said that 
play is Nature’s method of making us do important 
things for the body. 

How Play Helps to Make Our Growth Journey 
Successful.—Play of the right kind helps to educate 
us. It trains the mind in thinking, and certain games 
train the whole body in acting quickly and strongly 
when this is necessary. Watch our boys in a game of 
ball (Fig. 29) or our larger girls in some of their games 
to see if this is not true. To be able to think and act 
quickly and strongly is worth much in any one’s edu¬ 
cation. Play also trains us for cooperation, which 

90 


GROWTH AND PLAY 


91 


means being able to get along with and help others in 
play and in work. Then certain kinds of play educate 
us in still another way, as we shall discover later in 
this chapter. 

How Play Makes Our Growth Journey Happy. 

—Play is always interesting because we can play at 



Fig. 29.—A good ball player must have skill, alertness, and 
good health. 

whatever we choose, play as hard as we wish, and 
stop when we are tired or when we lose interest. 
Then, with interesting playmates we have the added 
joys of companionship and of contest. It rests us 
from our work and makes us forget our troubles, 
should we have any to forget. Without thinking 


92 OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 

about it, we drop into a happy frame of mind, and 
this we can often carry with us into our work. 

While most kinds of play are pleasant and helpful, 
there are certain kinds that are more helpful than 
others. We are lucky indeed, if we have some one to 
advise us in our playing and to help us select the forms 
of play that are best. 

Purposes Served by Play.—In choosing the forms 
of play that seem best for us, we should have in mind 
the purposes that play can serve. There are four 
main purposes, as follows: 

1. Occupation and amusement. Play gives us 
something to do which we like. This in itself is 
enough to make most of us happy. The effect is 
largely upon our mind. 

2. Bodily exercise and recreation. Our purpose 
here is to improve the health. The effect is largely 
upon the body. 

3. Social training. This means training in the 
ways of getting along with people and in cooperating 
with them. 

4. Education. This means preparation for the 
future and includes both knowledge and skill. 

Tools and the Boy’s Workshop.—One delightful 
kind of play, one which helps educate us, too, is that 
of making different things. If we can use real tools 
for this purpose, we accomplish more and enjoy our¬ 
selves more, too. Tools are very wonderful things in 
themselves, and it is a privilege to use them in our 
play. Of course the tools with sharp edges must be 


GROWTH AND PLAY 


93 


held very carefully, but boys can be as careful, if they 
try, as older people. For the beginner only a few of 
the commoner tools are needed. A knife, a hatchet, a 
saw, a square, a brace with some bits, and a plane will 
enable the boy to put pieces of wood into different 
shapes and to do some real building. If he can then 
have a place in which 
to work, a bench on 
which to hammer and 
saw, and some drawers 
for his tools, he will 
have the beginning of 
a real workshop (Fig. 

30). In this he will 
spend many happy and 
profitable hours. 

While the boy has his 
tools and his workshop, 
the girl may have hers also. She may have the same 
tools as the boy if she likes, but she is more apt to want 
scissors, needles and thread, a cutting board, and a 
small sewing machine. She will develop skill in her 
kind of play as well as the boy in his and will get as 
much enjoyment from it. 

Science and Play.—In physical science there are 
many things that delight children in their play. 
Windwheels, waterwheels, boats, siphons, levers, pul¬ 
leys, mirrors, lenses, prisms, magnets, batteries, elec¬ 
tric lights, toy airplanes, telephones, and radio sets, 
all make delightful playthings. Play in which we 



Fig. 30.—A boy’s workshop 





























94 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


use the forces and instruments of science, moreover, 
may lead to important things when we are grown. 
Edison, you know, played with electricity as a boy, 
and other inventors and scientists can trace the be¬ 
ginnings of many of their discoveries back to things 
they played with as children. 

Playing with and upon Musical Instruments.— 
Musicians, even more than scientists and inventors, 
can trace their love for their art and much of their 
skill back to childhood days. WTdle musical ability 
with many of them was a natural gift, this ability was 
developed in ways that were really play. Blowing 
horns, playing mouth organs, strumming the cords of 
banjo and guitar, beating drums, and fingering the 
keys of a piano—what more delightful forms of play 
could one with a gift for music have? 

The number of persons who have found in their 
play the beginnings of their life work shows the im¬ 
portance of the kinds of play that train our hands and 
our minds. While we seek the kinds of play that give 
health and recreation and that train us to cooperate 
with others, we can also select the kinds that prepare 
us for future work and study. 

Play and the Building of Character.—Play of the 
right kind helps us to build good character. Have 
you ever been tempted to cheat in order to win over 
others? Although cheating may help to win the 
game, we soon find that it makes us lose something 
that is much more important. We cannot cheat very 
often without building up a habit of being dishonest. 


GROWTH AND PLAY 


95 


Then from being dishonest we lose the confidence of 
others as well as our own self-respect. On the other 
hand, playing honestly causes us to build up the habit 
of being honest, and with this we keep our self-respect 
and the confidence of others. Then, too, keeping 
good-natured and cheerful when the game goes 
against us helps to build up habits of self-control and 
other habits which will be of great importance in 
later life. 

Rules for Healthful Play.—In order to make our 
play serve all the purposes that it should, it is wise to 
adopt certain rules and then to live up to them. Per¬ 
haps you will think some of the following rules are 
worth adopting: 

1. Enjoy your play as much as possible, helping 
others to have a good time as well as yourself. 

2. When possible, play outdoors. 

3. Avoid hard play just before and just after meals. 

4. In cooling off after hard play, keep out of a draft 
and use a sweater or some other covering. 

5. When playing games to see who wins, play fair. 
Never try to win by cheating. Character and repu¬ 
tation are more important than winning. 

6. Play with vim and courage, especially when the 
game is against you. If you should lose, be cheerful 
about it. If you win, let others sing your praise. 

7. Avoid excessive fatigue such as you get by 
jumping the rope too many times. When you are 
weary from any kind of play, rest. 

When Work Becomes Play.—With the many 


96 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


things that we have to do, it is hard sometimes to tell 
where play leaves off and work begins. But in both 
we should find health and enjoyment as well as the 
means for building our minds and our characters. 
All the rules which apply to play apply to work, and 
many kinds of work are like interesting games, as we 
have already pointed out. Most of us find pleasure 
in accomplishing worth-while things and this pleasure 
is really as helpful to our minds as the pleasure from 
actual play. 

Playing the Health Game.—Both in our work and 
in our play we have the problem of keeping well. 
Did you know that this problem could also be man¬ 
aged somewhat as an interesting game? How we 
are to play at the health game is told in the next 
chapter. 

Facts Learned.—(1) Play that is properly man¬ 
aged is one of our best aids to health and growth. 
(2) It gives us exercise, rests us from our work, im¬ 
proves our appetite and our ability to sleep, and helps 
to keep us in a happy frame of mind. (3) Certain 
forms of play prepare us for our future work, and 
others, if played as they should be, help to develop 
good character. (4) The spirit of play should be 
carried into our work and into the things we do in 
order to keep well. 

Questions 

1. How does play aid us in our bodily growth? 

2. How does it aid us in our preparation for the future? 


GROWTH AND PLAY 


97 


3. How does play aid in keeping us happy? 

4. Name some kinds of play that give us skill in the 
use of our hands. Some kinds that give us valuable 
knowledge. 

5. How may play help one in building a good character? 

6. How does play differ from work? 

7. Does play ever become work and work play? Give 
reasons for thinking so. 


CHAPTER XIII 


PLAYING THE HEALTH GAME 

There are two ways of doing the different things 
that are necessary for keeping well. We may do 
them as though they were tiresome tasks or we may 
do them cheerfully and in the spirit of play. You 
will think of many reasons why the latter way is the 
better. Furthermore, there is a strong resemblance 
between managing the health and playing an inter¬ 
esting game. 

How Looking After the Health Is Like a Game. 

—Looking after the health is like playing a game, in 
the first place, because we have something at stake. 
We win or lose according to how well we play. To 
keep in good health is to win. To become sick is to 
lose. In the second place, there is enjoyment in the 
playing. Much of what we do to keep well, such as 
taking exercise, going on a vacation, eating three 
meals a day, and sleeping soundly at night, is real 
pleasure. We delight in doing these things. In the 
third place, the victory, which is good health, gives 
the greatest pleasure of all. Indeed, there is nothing 
which gives so much joy and happiness as good health. 

With What We Play the Health Game.—In most 
of our games there are certain things with which to 


PLAYING THE HEALTH GAME 99 

play—ball and bat for baseball, net, rackets, and balls 
for tennis (Fig. 31), and blocks for dominos. With¬ 
out these the games would not be possible. We play 
the health game with everything that has any effect 
upon the body—with food, clothing, air, water, and 
the other aids of everyday life. We can play with, or 
use, these aids in very definite ways in winning good 
health, just as we use mallets and balls in playing cro- 



Fig. 31.—Things with which we play tennis 


quet, and marbles in playing the springtime game 
that our boys like so well. 

How We Play.—Everything that is used in the 
care of the body may be used in ways that do harm as 
well as in ways that do good. One playing the health 
game tries to use everything that affects the body in 
the way that is best. He makes good plays when he 
succeeds in doing this, and he makes bad plays when 
he fails. To make the good plays requires knowledge, 
and it also requires the skill that comes from practice. 
This is why some have better success in the health 
game than others. One can easily fail in doing what 




















































100 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 

is best for his health, just as he makes bad plays in 
other games. 

How We Play the Health Game with Food.— We 

play with food about as you would expect from what 
has already been said. We use foods in the ways 
that do the greatest good and the least amount of 
harm. We do not make bad plays by overeating, by 
eating between meals when this is unnecessary, and 
by eating too much of certain foods, such as meat, or 
too little of fruits and vegetables. We play well when 
we eat as much as we need, eat only at mealtime, and 
eat the foods that are best for health and growth. 
The general plan was stated by some wise person years 
ago when he said, “We eat to live and do not live to 
eat.” 

We play the health game with clothing, air, water, 
and the other aids in much the same way that we play 
it with foods. We use them in ways that do the most 
good and avoid using them in ways that do harm. 

The Health Game and Habit Formation.—You 
know of course about the game of checkers (Fig. 32) 
and it may be that you can play it. There are twelve 
pieces, or “men,” on each side, and each can only move 
forward until it reaches the last row in the opponent’s 
field. In that case it becomes a “king,” and it can 
then move either forward or backward. This makes 
it a much more valuable piece, and the winning of the 
game often depends upon who gets the first king. 
We have something quite similar in the game of 
health. If we can build our health knowledge into 


PLAYING THE HEALTH GAME 101 

habits, it becomes twice as valuable in winning good 
health. While we can hardly say that it then works 
both forward and backward, we do know that it works 
much easier and that we do not have to think about 
each good play that we should make. Hence, as in 
checkers, we must give our health knowledge this ex¬ 



tra power. Through habit formation we must get as 
much of it as possible into the “king's row." 

Destroy Opposing Habits.—To have no bad hab¬ 
its is just as important in winning the health game as 
to form good habits. If our opponent in checkers 
gets a man in the king's row before we do, we know 
how much harder the game becomes for us. If we 
cannot capture the newly-made king before it is 




102 OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 

brought into action, the outlook is discouraging. The 
same is true of bad habits in the health game. We 
must keep from forming them in the first place, and 
we must destroy any that we may have as soon as 
possible. 

Rules of the Game.—The health game is a big 
game, and there are naturally many rules. There 
are seven general rules that apply to our playing, and 
there are many more special rules that apply to the 
things with which we play. The general rules are: 

1. Do not worry about yourself. 

2. Play fair. 

3. Play fully. 

4. Play all the time. 

5. Build up the weak places. 

6. Be a good sport. 

7. Help others play. 

The Rule of Don’t Worry.—It is a well-known 

fact that if we worry about our food after it is eaten, 
it is less apt to digest properly than it will if we forget 
it altogether. The same is true of other matters hav¬ 
ing to do with health. According to this rule, we 
must be care-free and happy, but do, at the same time, 
all that we should for ourselves. Worrying about our 
different organs or our health in general wastes our 
nervous energy and interferes with Nature’s methods 
of body management and control. 

What Nature does for us is always vastly more than 
what we can do for ourselves. When we are care- 


PLAYING THE HEALTH GAME 103 

free and happy and do not worry, Nature can do her 
full share. 

The Play Fair Rule.—One may be said to play 
fair in the health game when he does as nearly as he 
can what he knows is best for the body. Many times, 
from habit, appetite, or the desire for comfort, we 
want to do one thing, while our good judgment tells us 
to do another. It is unfair to the body to do the thing 
that is harmful. It is also unfair to the body to over¬ 
work, to expose ourselves needlessly, to take undue 
risks, and to go without medical aid when it is needed. 
In these cases, also, we must learn to play fair. 

The Play Fully Rule.—The play fully rule is the 
rule of watching everything that affects the health. 
It is perhaps the hardest of all the general rules to 
follow. There are so many things to look after that 
we are very apt to overlook something. The only 
sure way to avoid this is to form habits of doing the 
things that we know should be done and to break hab¬ 
its that cause us to do the wrong things. We should 
have formed by this time at least a dozen health-build¬ 
ing habits. Have you as many as that to your credit ? 

The Rule of Playing All the Time.—The one who 
is every day doing what is best for his body is obeying 
the rule of playing all the time. He is not careful one 
day and careless the next. This rule, like the one 
above, is a hard rule to follow, and the trouble is not 
always that we forget. Students, for example, often 
stay up late and study when they know very well what 
the effect will be. They hope to make up for the loss 


104 OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 

of sleep and to win back their health as they have 
more time. This is not the way to play the health 
game. One should have system about his studying 
and his work so that he does not get behind. He 
should play the game all the time. 

The Rule of Building Up Parts That Are Weak. 
—Anything that is wrong about the body is very apt, 
if it is neglected, to lead to something worse. Like 
the flat tire or the broken bolt on the automobile, it en¬ 
dangers the whole machine. It is always harder to 
win in the health game when something is wrong with 
the body. Our best play, of course, is to rid ourselves 
of it as soon as possible. 

The Good Sport Rule.—Good sportsmanship is 
much talked of in football and the other games played 
by teams from schools and colleges. The player who 
is not a good sport is more or less in disgrace. A good 
sport in the health game is one who plays fair, plays 
fully, plays all the time, and plays well when the game 
is going against him. He is brave in the face of sick¬ 
ness and other hardships and is not easily discour¬ 
aged. He can even suffer pain when this is neces¬ 
sary for better health later on. We should all be 
good sports in the health game. 

The Rule of Helping Others.—It is by people’s 
helping one another that the world is made better, 
and helping in the health game is perhaps the best 
way of all to help. We can help others keep well by 
the following means: 

1. By good advice. 


PLAYING THE HEALTH GAME 105 

2. By kindness and thoughtfulness. 

3. By helping them with their work. 

4. By doing what we can to prevent their having 
accidents. 

5. By securing aid for those in distress. 

6. By staying at home when we have some kind of 
sickness that is contagious. 

Facts Learned.— (1) Looking after the health is 
very much like playing a game. (2) We play the 
health game with food, clothing, and the other things 
that have effects upon the body. (3) The point of 
the game is to use these things in the ways that do the 
most good and the least amount of harm. (4) The 
health game, like every other game, has rules which 
must be carefully followed. (5) The child who early 
learns to play the health game will have made a good 
start on a useful and happy life. 

Questions 

1. In what ways is looking after the health like playing 
a game? How is it different? 

2. With what do we play the health game? How is 
the playing done? 

3. How may we play the health game with exercise? 
With clothing? With the toothbrush? 

4. How do we obtain enjoyment from the health game? 

5. How do good habits help us to win? Illustrate with 
checkers. 

6. Why does success in the health game require the 
breaking of bad habits? 


106 OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 

7. Which of the seven rules of the health game do you 
consider the most important? Why? 

8. Why should one not worry about himself? Why 
must we help others with their health? 

9. Give an example in which helping others with their 
health aids those who do the helping. 


CHAPTER XIV 
OUR TWO HANDS 

From our study of things that affect the health and 
growth of the body as a whole, we turn to things that 
affect its different parts. We shall begin with the 
parts most easily studied and those that we know most 
about—our two hands. 

Organs for Grasping.—Suppose you lay your left 
hand, palm downward, on a piece of white paper. 
Then with a sharp pencil draw a line from the wrist 
around the hand and each of the fingers and the 
thumb. Take a little time to study this picture. 
Note how the hand broadens out from the wrist. 
Note also that the fingers extend straight forward, 
while the thumb pushes out to one side. Now hold 
up your right hand with the palm toward your face. 
The thumb, you see, is placed almost opposite the 
different fingers. Try making the end of the thumb 
touch the end of first one finger and then the other. 
Now make the ends of all the fingers touch the side 
and base of the thumb at the same time and into the 
circle thus formed, push two of the fingers of the left 
hand. See how easy it is for the fingers and thumb 
of the right hand to press down on the fingers of the 
left and hold them tight. 

This little experiment shows the main use of the 

107 


108 OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 

hands. They are organs for holding objects, or for 
grasping. This accounts for their peculiar shape, for 
the long and jointed fingers, and for the thumb's being 
almost opposite the fingers. 

What Our Hands Do for Us.—You will get some 
idea of what the hands do by counting the different 
things your hands have done since you arose this 
morning. They held the different pieces of clothing 
that you put on. They held your knife and fork while 
you were eating and your cup while you were drink¬ 
ing. At different times they held your books, pen¬ 
cils, and the different things with which you played. 
They may have held to something at times to keep 
you from falling. In fact, your hands have been so 
busy grasping first one thing and then another that 
you cannot remember them all. How could we pos¬ 
sibly do the different things that we have to do for 
ourselves if we did not have hands? And do you 
know that man is the only animal that has well- 
formed hands? 

What Hands Have Meant to the Race.—Without 

hands we could not build homes, make machinery, 
till the soil, cook our meals, clothe our bodies, and do 
many other things that are necessary to life and 
health. One of the greatest aids to man in his ad¬ 
vancement from the savage state has been the use of 
fire. But how could he kindle a fire and keep it burn¬ 
ing without hands ? Clothing has been another great 
aid. But how could he weave cloth and make it into 
garments without hands? Tools have also been a 


OUR TWO HANDS 


109 


great aid. Without hands he could neither make 
tools nor use them (Fig. 33). All this suggests what 
wonderful organs the hands are. 

The Hands and the Brain. —The brain, our organ 
of thought, could do very little without our hands. 
Of course it could make us stand up and lie down and, 
by directing the feet, could move us from place to 
place. But what could the brain do in building and 
manufacture, in writing and printing, in drawing and 



painting, and in providing the necessities of life, with¬ 
out hands? But the hands are more than servants 
of the brain. They are helpers and teachers of the 
brain. Things thought out by the brain may be right 
or they may be wrong. The hands by putting them 
into practice enable the brain to test them out. In 
your studies in school have you noticed how often 
your hands help your brain in its work? 

The Hands and the Arms. —Suppose your hands 
were attached to your shoulders instead of their being 



110 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 



Fig. 34.—Our three- 
jointed hand ex¬ 
tender 


where they are. What would you have to do when 
you wanted to pick up something? Nature has made 
the picking up and laying down of 
objects easy by placing the hands 
on the ends of two jointed rods, 
called the arms. There are joints 
at three places in the arms—at the 
shoulders, at the elbows, and at 
the wrists (Fig. 34). In moving 
the hands through long distances 
we use the joints at the shoulders. 
For shorter distances we use the 
joints at the elbows. And for 
very short distances we use the 
joints at the wrists. Try moving 
a hand from each of these 
joints. Without our jointed 
hand-extenders, or arms, our 
hands would be of little use. 

The Hands and the 
Mouth.—Managing the food 
while eating is one of the most 
important uses of the hands 
(Fig. 35), although this is done 
easily and without our even ^ or . ... 

thinking about it. If you the mouth in eating and 
watch some older person at the drinking, 

table, you will see how well the 
hands hold the knife and fork as they cut the food 
and pass it to the mouth. You will also notice the 




Ill 


OUR TWO HANDS 

care with which the cup or the glass is brought to the 
lips in drinking. Now after seeing all this watch 
some animal as it eats and drinks. Having no hands, 
it must put its mouth into its food and against what¬ 
ever the food is on. It cannot keep its food clean nor 
eat it in a sanitary way. We often wonder how ani¬ 
mals can keep as healthy as they do. 

Advantages of Two Hands.—The advantages of 
having two hands are so numerous that we can 
scarcely mention them all. Objects that are too large 
to be grasped by one hand are held by both. Often 
one hand holds some object while the other hand does 
something to it or for it. In the small matter of 
threading a needle one hand holds the needle while 
the other directs the thread. Like good partners, 
the hands help each other and work together. If 
one hand is hurt, the other ties it up. In washing 
the hands each rubs the water and soap on the other 
(Fig. 36), and each dries the other with a towel. 

By being on the ends of the arms, the hands can 
do for all the outside parts of the body what they do 
for each other. They are body helpers and pro¬ 
tectors in the fullest sense of the word. 

Growth of the Hands.—The constant use of the 
hands for one purpose or another requires that they 
be kept uncovered most of the time. This is greatly 
to their advantage. It keeps their growth from be¬ 
ing interfered with by pressure from things about 
them, as sometimes happens to the feet. As far as 
size and shape go, the hands are free to grow as Nature 


112 OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 

intended. But there is a kind of growth for the hands 
that can be greatly helped by our efforts. This is 
their growth in skill and deftness. 

Manual Training.—Manual training means the 
training of the hands. The hands of human beings 
must do many things which Nature alone does not 
prepare them to do. It is not enough for us to grasp 


objects in a rough and 
awkward manner. We 
must handle delicate 
objects without injur¬ 
ing them and be able to 
fashion rough materials 
into shapes that are 
useful and also beauti¬ 
ful. To do this, our 
hands must be trained 
in the use of different 
kinds of tools. Such 



Fig. 36. —The hands washing training is of the great- 


each other 


est importance both to 
the hands themselves 


and to the brain which directs them. 

All children should have the growth in skill and 
deftness that comes through manual training. If 
this is not provided for in your school, try to have a 
home workshop, even if it must be only a very small 
one with few tools. 

Health Dangers from Hands.—In their regular, 
everyday work the hands must touch many things 




113 


OUR TWO HANDS 

that are dirty and that have upon them germs that 
cause disease. In this way the hands themselves get 
dirty and pick up many germs. The hands can then 
put the germs upon whatever they touch. They may 
put the germs upon food that is being eaten, upon the 
clothing, or upon some object that later is placed in 
the mouth or over the face. In this way it is possible 
for the hands to spread disease. The way to prevent 
this is to keep the hands clean. 

How to Wash the Hands.—Sometimes we need 
only clean water for washing the hands, but every 
child knows that water alone is^iot always enough. 
Good soap is needed quite often. If the hands are 
dirty, we first rub them with a lather made by soap 
and water on the hands themselves. With clean 
water we then rinse the hands to remove the lather. 
This is important, for soap left on the hands may 
injure the skin. After the soap is all removed, we 
dry the hands with a clean towel. 

When to Wash the Hands.—The hands should 
always be washed when the dirt shows. This will 
aid in keeping our books and clothing clean and will 
be better for our health. Then, too, we are more at¬ 
tractive and pleasing to other people when our hands 
are clean. But certain kinds of dirt on the hands, 
although it may not show, may be very harmful to 
the health. This is why we should early form the 
habit of washing the hands after going to the toilet. 
The smallest particle of body waste to get on the 
hands may contain dangerous germs. We should 


114 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


also form the habit of washing the hands just before 
eating. This is to keep dirt and germs from getting 
on our food as we eat it. 

Keep the Nails Clean.—The finger nails are very 
interesting and useful parts of the body. They pro¬ 
tect the ends of the fingers and are a great help in 
picking up small objects. You could not pick up a 
pin or a needle from the floor without the stiff nails 
on the ends of the fingers. But dirt and germs collect 
easily under the nails. Look at your nails to see if 
there is not a narrow line of dirt under them. Proper 
care of the nails includes both trimming them and 
cleaning them. The nails should be trimmed short 
and round like the ends of the fingers. For getting 
dirt from under the nails and also from around the 
nail on top, a stiff splinter or a strong, wooden tooth¬ 
pick will serve quite well. 

Protect the Hands.—On account of their work the 
hands are more exposed than most of the other parts 
of the body. In grasping things that are too hot, or 
too rough and sharp, or sometimes in holding fright¬ 
ened animals they are often in danger of being in¬ 
jured. Then, too, the hand that holds the nail for 
the other hand to strike with a hammer is often struck 
accidentally. By thinking about the ways in which 
the hands may be injured, we can plan how to protect 
them. Of course any small wounds on the hands 
must be treated with some germ-killing substance 
in order to prevent further trouble. 

Habit Formation for the Hands.—If you do not 


OUR TWO HANDS 115 

have these habits already, begin forming them at 
once: 

1. Keeping the hands clean. 

2. Keeping finger nails trimmed and clean. 

3. Washing hands after going to the toilet. 

4. Washing hands before each meal. 

Break any of these habits that you may have: 

1. Biting the finger nails. 

2. Picking at nose or putting fingers in mouth. 

3. Using fingers instead of knife and fork in eating. 

4. Carelessness in the use of dangerous tools. 

Facts Learned.— (1) Our hands serve as organs for 
grasping, or holding, different objects and as such are 
instruments of the brain. (2) Their value is in¬ 
creased by the arms, by their working together as 
occasion requires and by the development of skill and 
deftness. (3) But because of the things which we 
daily handle, the hands may be the means of spread¬ 
ing harmful germs. (4) To prevent this, they must 
be kept clean and protected in various ways. 

Questions 

1. Show how the hands are able to grasp objects. 

2. What purpose is served by the part of a tool called 
the handle? Account for the name. 

3. Why do the tools shown on page 109 have different 
kinds of handles? 

4. Name some uses of the hands that do not depend 
upon grasping. 


116 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


5. How have the hands aided in building up the world 
we all enjoy today? 

6. How do the arms increase the usefulness of the 
hands? 

7. What are the advantages of having two hands? 
Can we properly speak of the hands as partners? Why? 

8. What different parts of the body can be reached by 
the hands? What uses of the hands does this suggest? 

9. For what kinds of work do the hands need training? 

10. How may the hands spread disease? How is this 
prevented? 

11. Describe a good way to wash the hands. How are 
the finger nails trimmed and cleaned? 


CHAPTER XV 
OUR TWO FEET 

Our feet are almost as interesting and useful as our 
hands. The health game is played in part by them, 
and we need them on all kinds of journeys, including 
our journey of growth. 

What Our Feet Do for Us.—Our first thought is 
that the feet are for supporting the weight of the body 
or for holding us up. This of course they do, but if it 
were their main use they would not have to be the 
shape and size they are. To show the main purpose 
of the feet, we shall perform a simple experiment. 
Here is a straight stick which is about as long as some 
of you are tall. Let us try making it stand up as you 
are able to stand. You see that it cannot stand alone. 
But here is a short board with the pointed end of a 
nail sticking up from the middle. We drive this nail 
into the end of the stick so that the stick and the board 
are held together. The stick can now stand on end 
without any trouble (Fig. 37). The short board does 
for the stick what the feet do for the person. 

The Feet Form a Base for Balancing the Body. 
—Without feet on the ends of our legs it would be as 
hard for us to stand upright as for the unaided stick 
to stand on end. To prove that this is true, try stand- 
117 


118 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 

ing still on your heels. It is impossible to do so, is it 
not? To stand this way at all, you must keep moving 
about. But how easily you can stand up straight and 
perfectly still when you stand on all of both feet in¬ 
stead of on the heels only. The feet give us a broad 
base upon which to balance the body. There is also 
a good reason for our having two 
feet instead of one broad base like 
the board on the end of the stick. 

Advantages of Two Feet.— 
Try standing with the feet side 
by side and touching. Note how 
easily you fall in a sideward direc¬ 
tion. Now let yourself start to 
fall sideward and see what you do 
to keep from falling down. A 
foot flies out quickly to make a 
brace for checking the fall. With 
two feet that can be moved in dif¬ 
ferent directions, we can brace 
ourselves on all sides. This is shown by the posi¬ 
tions taken by our feet when any kind of a push is 
expected. 

Other Uses of the Feet.—Besides the main use of 
the feet, which is that of balancing the body in an up¬ 
right position, they have five other uses. They sup¬ 
port the weight of the body. They aid in walking 
and in running. They act as springs for lessening 
the jars and shocks that come from running and jump¬ 
ing. They can be used in working different kinds of 



a b 


Fig. 37. —How a 
stick may stand on 
end 








OUR TWO FEET 


119 


machines. And they can be used as weapons for de¬ 
fending ourselves (Fig. 38). But it makes a big dif¬ 
ference whether our feet are healthy and of the right 
shape and size, or whether they are weak and dis¬ 
eased and out of their natural shape. 

How Our Feet May Cause Poor Health.—To 
have anything wrong with the feet is bad for the 



whole body, as well as for the feet themselves. For 
one thing, it keeps us from exercising as we should, 
and lack of exercise is a cause of poor health. Sore 
places on the feet are hard on the nerves. When our 
feet hurt, we cannot study and often cannot sleep. 
Sore feet and feet out of shape cause children to stand 
in bad positions and to grow out of shape, as we 
learned from Chapter V. And if germs get into the 


120 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


sore places, they can increase in numbers and spread 
to all parts of the body. For health in general, as 
well as for the purposes which the feet serve, we must 
give these parts all the care they need. 

Feet and Shoes.—The feet, like the body as a 
whole, may be made to grow into the wrong shape. 
Unlike the hands, which are free to grow as Nature 
intended, the feet are enclosed in shoes. If the shoes 
are the right size for the feet and have the same shape, 
they are a great help to the feet and do them no harm. 
But if they are of a shape different from that of the 
feet, or if they do not fit, they hurt the feet and may 
cause them to grow into an unnatural shape. Some 
of you may know from experience how easily the shoes 
can hurt the feet. 

Why Foot Troubles Increase with Age.—Chil¬ 
dren under four have very little trouble with their 
feet. Children in the grades have some trouble, but 
those in the high school have much more. During 
the “teen” age there is a rapid increase in corns, 
bunions, weak arches, and other foot troubles, while 
the worst time of all for the feet is when one is be¬ 
coming full-grown. The cause of this increase in 
foot troubles is the change in the kinds of shoes that 
are worn. Children’s shoes are usually made as they 
should be, and parents are careful to have them fit. 
On entering the “teen” age, young people begin to 
select shoes for themselves, and often they are guided 
more by what seems pretty and stylish than by what 
is best for the feet. The result is shoes that do harm. 


OUR TWO FEET 


121 


What Our Shoes Should Do for Us.—When shoes 
are properly made and fitted, they protect the feet in 
different ways and aid them in their work. The child 
with strong and comfortable shoes can run over 
rough and stony places without hurting his feet. He 
can go out in rainy weather without getting them 
wet. And with warm stockings inside the shoes 
he can run over snow and ice without getting 
his feet cold. Then shoes are a real help in bal¬ 
ancing the body and in going about. In order to 
have shoes that serve these purposes and do not 
injure the feet, we must be careful when we select 
them. 

How to Select the Right Shoes.—When we go 
into a store to buy shoes, we are shown several makes 
and sizes. Some are too large, and some are too small. 
Some are of a kind to keep the feet healthy and in the 
right shape. Others, alas, will hurt the feet and press 
them out of shape. The main points to keep in mind 
in making a good selection are as follows: 

1. The shoes must be large enough. With the 
child they must be slightly overlarge in order to al¬ 
low for growth. 

2. They should have the general shape of the feet 
(Fig. 39). This means that the toes must be broad 
and that the inner edge of the sole and the upper 
must run almost straight forward to the toe. 

3. The heels must be broad and low—less than an 
inch high for children under twelve. 

4. The leather must not press down upon the feet 


122 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


from above, and the soles must be at least a quarter of 
an inch thick. 

5. The shoe as a whole must be strongly built. It 
must stand the rough wear that comes from taking 
our needed exercise outdoors. 

Many of the shoes that have all these good points 
are also pretty, and some of you will select these in¬ 
stead of the shoes that 
do not look so well. 
But it is a mistake to 
buy shoes just because 
they are pretty. If 
they hurt the feet in 
any way, they will de¬ 
stroy much more 
beauty for the body as 
a whole than they can 
possibly give to the 
feet. 

Breaking In the 
New Shoes.—After 
the right shoes are 
bought they must be made to work easily on the 
feet. This takes time and careful management. If 
the soles are too stiff, we can soften them somewhat 
by working them back and forth with the hands. If 
some part rubs or pinches, the shoe must be taken to 
a shoe shop, or store, where the part can be stretched 
with a tool kept for that purpose. But most impor¬ 
tant of all is to stop wearing the new shoes when they 



Fig. 39.—The shoe should have 
the general shape of the foot. 





OUR TWO FEET 


123 


begin to hurt the feet. The old shoes must then be 
put on and worn until the feet are rested from the 
effects of the new shoes. One should not expect to 
wear a pair of new shoes all the time until a week or 
more has passed after he first put them on. 

The Right Shoes Cure, as well as Prevent, Foot 
Troubles.—The right shoes cure foot troubles by re¬ 
moving the causes that lead to them in the first place. 
Take corns as an example. The corn is a thick place 
in the skin of the toe that comes from pressure or rub¬ 
bing. Bad shoes are nearly always to blame for corns. 
To cure a corn, we simply wear shoes that do not rub 
or press upon the toes. The corn then gets well of 
itself. Corns cured in this way do not come back as 
they do when they are removed with medicines and 
without removing the cause. Bunions, ingrown toe¬ 
nails, weak foot arches, crowded toes, and tender heels 
are all greatly helped by properly made and fitted 
shoes. But better than curing these troubles is pre¬ 
venting them with good shoes in the first place. 

Our Stockings.—Stockings keep our shoes from 
rubbing the feet and in winter keep the feet warm. 
They too should be chosen carefully. Their weight 
must be in keeping with the weather, and they must 
be neither too large nor too small. If they are too 
large, they form folds that irritate the skin and cause 
corns. If they are too small, they press the toes to¬ 
gether and may cause ingrown nails. The usual plan 
is to select stockings that are a full size larger than the 
ones that snugly fit the feet. 


124 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


How to Walk.—Of course we all know how to 
walk, but do we know how to walk in the way that is 
best for the feet and for the health? Have you ever 
noticed the different ways people have of placing 
their feet in walking? Some turn their toes in, some 
turn them out, and some point them straight ahead. 
The proper way is to toe straight ahead (Fig. 40). 
To turn the toes in makes one look and feel awkward. 



Fig. 40.—In walking we should toe straight ahead. 

To turn them out causes the feet to turn on their 
sides, and this weakens the foot arches. If you do 
not already toe straight ahead in walking, you should 
begin to walk this way at once. It strengthens the 
foot arches and is also the easiest and most graceful 
way to walk when once we form the habit. 

The Foot Arches.—The two feet have three 
arches. This statement sounds queer, but it is true. 
Each foot has a whole arch from front to back and a 
half-arch from the highest point on the top of each 








OUR TWO FEET 


125 


foot to the outside. To form the whole arch from 
side to side we stand with the inner sides of the feet 
touching (Fig. 41). The arches act as springs in the 
feet to protect us from jars and shocks and are an aid 
in walking and in running. 

Unfortunately the foot arches are rather easily in¬ 
jured. When the injury is so great that in standing 
the middle of the foot is flat on the ground, the condi¬ 
tion is called “flat-foot.” This takes the spring out 
of the feet and much of 
the spring out of life. 

It is also a painful con¬ 
dition and one that is 
far too common. 

Care of the Foot m.. 

Arches.—Although in- 
juries to the arches are Fig. 4i._Two of our foot arches 
hard to cure, they are 

easily prevented. We prevent them by wearing the 
right kind of shoes, by walking in the right way, and 
by taking exercises that strengthen the arches. The 
kinds of shoes that prevent broken arches are those 
with low broad heels. High heels weaken the arches, 
and after they become weak, they can be broken down 
by ordinary exercise. But one used to very high heels 
should not exercise in shoes with very low heels. 

WTien one changes from shoes with very high heels 
to shoes with low heels, he should make the change 
gradually. He should begin by getting shoes with 
heels about one-half inch lower than the old ones and 







126 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


the next ones slightly lower than these. This avoids 
the strain upon the weak arches before they are ready 
to stand it. 

Marches for the Arches.—Besides toeing straight 
ahead, there are several ways of walking, or marching, 
that greatly improve the strength and firmness of the 
foot arches. One of these is to march for short dis¬ 
tances with the feet turned over on their outer sides. 
Another is to march “pigeon-toed,” or with the toes 
turned inward. And still another is to march on tip¬ 
toe. It makes an interesting indoor exercise for the 
pupils to march around the schoolroom, each holding 
himself up straight and at signals from the teacher 
changing from one way of marching to the other. 
Ready! Forward march! Toe straight ahead! 
Now march on sides of feet! Now march pigeon- 
toed! Now march on tiptoe! Now toe straight 
ahead! 

Keep the Feet Warm.—Warm feet are necessary 
both for comfort and for good health. When the feet 
are cold, very little blood is flowing through them, and 
because of this lack we have too much blood flowing 
to other parts of the body. We keep the feet warm 
by plenty of exercise such as walking, by wearing 
warm shoes and stockings,* by exposing the feet at 
times to cold as we do our hands, and by putting extra 
covering over the feet on very cold nights. Keeping 

* Stockings that are too warm cause the feet to sweat, and sweating 
cools the feet. Because cotton stockings do not sweat the feet, they 
keep them warmer, as a rule, than do woolen stockings. 



OUR TWO FEET 127 

the feet warm and dry protects us from colds and sore 
throat and is good for our nerves. 

Keep Toenails Trimmed.—One reason for keep¬ 
ing the toenails trimmed is to protect the stockings. 
The stiff big toenail with its sharp edge is sure to cut 
a hole in the stocking if it is allowed to grow long 



Fig. 42. — One result of sharp Fig. 43.—The nails trimmed 

toenails properly 


(Fig. 42). So keeping them trimmed saves work and 
expense on the part of our parents. Then if the toe¬ 
nails are trimmed properly, it is also a means of pro¬ 
tecting the toes. The nails should be cut straight 
across, as shown in Figure 43, so that they are as long 
at the edges as they are in the middle. This keeps them 
from cutting into the flesh at the sides and causing 
the so-called “ingrown nails.” 







128 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


Habit Formation for the Feet.—If you do not 

have these good habits already, begin to form them 
at once: 

1. Using care in the selection of shoes. 

2. Keeping the toenails properly trimmed. 

3. Toeing straight ahead in walking. 

If you have any of these bad habits, begin breaking 
them today: 

1. Selecting shoes simply because they are pretty 
and forgetting that they must be of the right shape 
and fit properly. 

2. Toeing out in walking. 

3. Toeing in. 

Facts Learned.— (1) The feet are among the most 
useful and interesting parts of the body, but they are 
often much abused. (2) The worst enemies of the 
feet are misfitting shoes and shoes of the wrong shape. 
These press the feet out of their natural shape, de¬ 
velop sore places, and weaken the foot arches. (3) 
On the other hand, well-fitted shoes of the right shape 
and well-fitted stockings are our best aids in foot 
health and comfort. (4) We must also walk in a 
proper manner and take special exercises to 
strengthen the foot arches. 

Questions 

1. What is the main use of the feet? What other uses 
do they have besides this one? 



129 


OUR TWO FEET 

2. Why are our two narrow feet better for balancing 
the body than one broad foot would be? 

3. Why does one in throwing often place one foot in 
front of the other? 

4. How may troubles of the feet injure the whole 
body? 

5. Because their feet are bound from very early life to 
maturity, some Chinese women have feet but little larger 
than those of infants. What are the objections to feet so 
small?. 

6. Why should tall people have longer feet than those 
who are short? 

7. What purposes are served by properly made and 
fitted shoes? 

8. What points must be watched in making a good se¬ 
lection of shoes? 

9. How do we “break in” a new pair of shoes? 

10. Describe the foot arches and give their uses. 

11. How may the foot arches be strengthened? 


CHAPTER XVI 
THE MOUTH 


A part of the body requiring even more attention 
than the hands or the feet is the mouth. Especially 
must this part of the body be care¬ 
fully looked after during our jour¬ 
ney of growth. 

Uses of the Mouth.— The 

mouth, like the hands and the feet, 
has many uses. Its main uses are 
for chewing and tasting food and 
for talking. Besides these, it is used 
at times for breathing, for cough¬ 
ing, for singing, for whistling, and 
for swallowing. The mouth is also 
used in expressing our feelings. 
Pleasure is shown by smiles and laughter (Fig. 44), 
and displeasure by set jaws and pouting lips. In eat¬ 
ing, drinking, talking, laughing, singing, whistling, 
breathing, and coughing, the mouth is busy most of 
the time. 

The mouth includes all the space between the two 
j aws. It is surrounded by the lips in front, the cheeks 
at the sides, and a thin curtain called the soft palate 
at the back, and it contains the teeth and the tongue. 
Its uses depend upon these different parts. 

130 



Fig. 44.— The 
mouth gives expres¬ 
sion to the face. 


THE MOUTH 


131 


The Teeth.—The first thing we see when a person 
opens his mouth the least bit is the teeth. They are 
in two rows, one above the other, and are firmly set 
in the jaws. The upper jaw is firmly joined to the 
rest of the head and can move only as the head moves. 
The lower jaw can 
move up and down, 
backward and forward, 
and sideways, while the 
head is held still. This 
lets the lower row of 
teeth work against the 
upper row as they must 
do in biting and in 
chewing. Of course 
you know about our two 
sets of teeth. The 
teeth belonging to the 
first set are called the 
temporary teeth. 

Those belonging to the 
second set are called 
the permanent teeth. 

The Temporary 
Teeth.—For about the first six months of a child's life 
no teeth are visible. There is no need for teeth at this 
time, for the baby's food is milk, and milk is a liquid. 
Between the fifth and the eighth month, the first four 
teeth are cut. These are directly in front, and the 
two lower ones usually come in before the two upper 



Fig. 45.—The temporary and 
permanent teeth 



132 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


ones. By the time the child is three or four years old 
he will have cut all his temporary teeth. There are 
ten of these in each jaw, or twenty in all. They are 
also known as the “milk teeth” and the “baby teeth.” 
The number and kinds of temporary teeth and their 
places in the jaws are shown in Figure 45. 

The Permanent Teeth.—When a child is five or 
six years old, it begins to cut its permanent teeth. 
The first four of these to appear come in just back of 
the temporary teeth, one above and one below on each 
side, and are called the six-year molars. They are 
given this name because of the age at which they are 
cut and because they are used in grinding the food. 
From now until one is twelve to fourteen years old, 
and later in some cases, one is losing his temporary 
teeth and cutting his permanent teeth. There are 
sixteen permanent teeth in each jaw, thirty-two in all. 
They, also, are shown in Figure 45. 

How the Temporary Teeth Are Exchanged for 
the Permanent.—Just beneath the temporary teeth 
are the buds from which the permanent teeth grow. 
As the jaws grow and there is more room, the perma¬ 
nent teeth are also growing. As they become larger, 
they press against the roots of the temporary teeth, 
and this causes the roots to dissolve, somewhat as ice 
melts in warm water. This makes more room for the 
young permanent teeth, which keep on growing and 
pressing and causing the temporary teeth to dissolve 
more and more. After all the root of a temporary 
tooth has dissolved, the tooth loosens, as it now has 


THE MOUTH 133 

nothing to hold it in place except the gum. In only a 
short time it can be pulled out with the fingers. Soon 
after this the permanent tooth can be seen in the place 
left vacant by the temporary tooth. 

Care of the Teeth.—The teeth require two kinds 
of care. One kind of care is that which we can give 
them ourselves. The other is the kind which the den¬ 
tist must give them for 
us. While we can de¬ 
pend upon our own ef¬ 
forts for keeping the 
teeth clean, the dentist 
must fill decayed 
places, straighten teeth 
that are out of line, and 
do at times other 
needed work. Our 
own work and that of 
the dentist are both 
very important. 

To Clean the Teeth.—The two main things needed 
for cleaning the teeth are clean water and a good 
toothbrush. We want a toothbrush with stiff bristles 
and one that will brush between the teeth and remove 
bits of food that lodge there (Fig. 46). It takes con¬ 
siderable practice to brush the teeth in the right way, 
but every child should keep trying until he knows 
just how it is done. 

The best place to start is with the outer parts of the 
back teeth. Dip the brush in water and place it far 



brushes—both good 


134 OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 

back between the teeth and the cheek, the bristles 
touching the upper row. Now with the jaws slightly 
separated, push the brush backward and downward 
to the lower gums and then forward and upward to the 
upper gums. Then keep up this movement: back¬ 
ward, downward, forward, upward—making little 


circles as we go all 
around the outsides of 
the teeth (A, Fig. 47). 



To brush the inner 
sides of the teeth we use 
the up-and-down and 
forward- and-back¬ 
ward stroke, except for 
the front teeth. Here 
we can do best with the 


Flo. 47.— In brushing the side end of the brush and by 
teeth, move the brush in small an up-and-down stroke 


only. After doing the 
outer and inner sides of 


circles. 


all the teeth we still have two other places to brush. 
One of these is the biting surfaces of the teeth above; 
the other, those of the teeth below. Both of these are 
done by short movements of the brush pressed against 
the tops of the teeth (B, Fig. 47). 

The Brushing Time.—To do anything well takes 
time. It takes from one to two minutes to brush the 
teeth thoroughly, and we should time ourselves to see 
that we brush as long as we should. Best authorities 
say that we should brush our teeth four times a day— 



THE MOUTH 135 

after each meal and on rising in the morning. There 
is no danger of keeping the teeth too clean or of in¬ 
juring them by too much brushing. If we brush 
them but once a day, this should be after supper. 
This will keep food from remaining between the teeth 
overnight where it is likely to decay. Decaying food 
injures the teeth. 

Toothpick or Dental Floss. —For removing bits 
of food from between the teeth we have our choice be¬ 
tween dental floss and the wooden toothpick. Many 
prefer the dental floss because they can clean the teeth 
better with it and can do so without harm to the gums. 
A piece of floss about three inches long is held at the 
ends by two fingers from each hand and then drawn 
carefully between all the teeth. The wooden tooth¬ 
pick, on the other hand, is less expensive than the 
dental floss and is more easily used, but it is more 
likely to injure the gums. If we use a wooden tooth¬ 
pick, we must be careful to avoid picking the gums. 
We must pick the teeth instead. 

Rinsing the Mouth. —In addition to brushing the 
teeth and removing bits of food with dental floss or 
the toothpick we should rinse the mouth after each 
meal, especially after the last meal of the day. Rins¬ 
ing is to clean the tongue, the inner sides of the cheeks, 
and the roof of the mouth. It is done in this way. 
Take a small mouthful of water and work it back and 
forth between the teeth with the cheeks. Then expel 
this and take in another small mouthful and repeat. 
A third mouthful will complete the rinsing and give 


136 OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 

the mouth a feeling of cleanness that will last for some 
time. 

What the Dentist Does for the Teeth—The main 
thing that the dentist does is to stop the decay of 
teeth when this gets started. With sharp instru¬ 
ments he first cuts out all the decayed portion of the 
tooth. Then he dries the cavity thoroughly and fills 
it with metal or some other substance. The result 
is to stop the decay immediately. Besides filling the 
teeth when they become decayed, the dentist should 
at times clean and polish them. If the teeth become 
discolored or have deposits on them that cannot be 
removed by the brush, we must go to the dentist to 
have them cleaned. The dentist should also be seen 
when our permanent teeth are not forming in regular 
rows as they should. 

How Irregular Teeth Are Brought into Line.— 

When the permanent teeth are coming in to replace 
the temporary teeth, some of them may be consider¬ 
ably out of line. The dentist, however, can guide 
them in their growing so that each will finally be in 
its exact place. On this account, when the child is 
shedding his temporary and cutting his permanent 
teeth, he should see the dentist every three months. 
This will give the dentist a chance to correct any 
trouble before it gets too far along. However, it is 
not too late to help irregular teeth after they are 
through growing, though this is harder to do. By 
suitable braces fastened to the teeth they can be 
pressed into line and the mouth greatly improved in 
appearance. All through our journey of growth it 


137 


THE MOUTH 

is possible for the dentist to do much to improve 
the faulty teeth that give a bad appearance to the 
mouth. 

Care of the Temporary Teeth.—The temporary 
teeth need the same care as the permanent teeth. 
They need this care for their own sake, and they need 
it for the sake of the teeth that come later. Each 
place that is occupied by a temporary tooth is to be 
filled later by a permanent tooth. If the temporary 
tooth is lost from the mouth before it is forced out by 
the permanent tooth, the tooth next to it on each side 
crowds into the place. This leaves little or no room 
for the permanent tooth. This is one of the main 
causes of irregular permanent teeth. 

We care for the temporary teeth in the same two 
ways that we care for the permanent teeth. By keep¬ 
ing them clean and having decayed places filled, we 
can usually keep our temporary teeth as long as 
Nature intended. 

Care of the Six-Year Molars.—The six-year 
molars are the first of the permanent teeth to be cut, 
as already explained. They are the sixth teeth in 
order as we count back from the center above and be¬ 
low on each side. They are the most important of 
the molars, or jaw teeth. From their position in the 
middle of the jaws they serve as braces for the teeth 
that are in front of them and for those that are back 
of them. They decay very easily and are often neg¬ 
lected because they are mistaken for the temporary 
teeth. Figure 45 shows in what parts of the jaws to 
look for the six-year molars. 


138 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


If the six-year molars show signs of decay, we 
should see a dentist at once. It is a good plan, even 
when we think there is nothing wrong with the teeth, 
to see a dentist every six months. 
He can then check any decay of our 
teeth before it has had much time 
to start. 

Tooth Powder and Paste.—It 

is sometimes a help to use on the 
toothbrush a small amount of tooth 
powder or paste. We should 
not form the habit, however, of 
using something of this kind every 
time we brush the teeth. The 
habit is expensive and there is 
danger of injuring the teeth. A 
UH V good brush and clean water are all 
p IG 48 —Tooth- we neec * f° r Aguiar use. Plenty 
brush holders °f brushing is the main thing. 

Even when we use tooth powder 
or paste we must remember that it is the thorough 
brushing that counts. 

Care of the Toothbrush.—Each child must, of 
course, have his own toothbrush. It is even better to 
have two brushes and to use one brush one day and the 
other brush the next day. After using the brush it 
should be washed with clean water and then placed 
in a special holder. A screweye just large enough to 
take the handle makes a very good holder, but a brush 
with a hole in the end of the handle can be hung on a 



c3 









THE MOUTH 


139 


small hook (Fig. 48). Once a week the brush should 
stand overnight in strong salt water. This kills any 
germs that may be in the brush. 

Food and the Teeth.—Even more important for 
the teeth than frequent brushing, is food of the right 
kind. To make good teeth the body must have a good 
supply of mineral salts and vitamins. This means 
that we must have a pint or more of milk each day 
and plenty of fruits and plenty of green vegetables. 
Foods that require chewing are good for the teeth as 
they give them needed exercise and aid in keeping 
them clean. Too much candy causes tooth decay. 
Remember to eat your candy as a part of, or just 
following, the regular meal. 

Habit Formation for the Teeth.—If you do not 
have these habits already, begin to form them at 
once: 

1. Daily washing of teeth with brush and water. 

2. Daily use of milk, fruit, and vegetables. Thor¬ 
ough chewing of the food. 

3. Seeing the dentist at once when any kind of 
tooth trouble is suspected. 

4. Having teeth examined by the dentist every six 
months whether we know anything to be wrong with 
the teeth or not. 

Break any of these bad habits that you may have: 

1. Biting hard substances and cutting thread with 
the teeth. 

2. Eating candy between meals. 

3. Using too much tooth paste or powder. 


140 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


Facts Learned.— (1) The mouth should have spe¬ 
cial care all through our journey of growth. (2) 
While many things need to be looked after, the teeth 
are the parts that require most attention. (3) We 
must keep them clean by daily brushing and by the 
use of dental floss or the wooden toothpick. (4) We 
must see the dentist frequently in order that he may 
stop tooth decay when it starts and keep the teeth 
even and in line. (5) We must have at least a pint 
of milk each day and eat plenty of vegetables. 


Questions 

1. Name all the uses of the mouth. 

2. What purposes are served by the teeth? 

3. Why do we have two sets of teeth? In what ways 
do the temporary differ from the permanent teeth? 

4. How does one give his teeth a thorough brushing? 

5. When must the dentist clean our teeth? 

6. A temporary tooth coming out in the natural way 
has no root. If it is extracted before this time, it has a 
root. Explain. 

7. How does the dentist stop decay of the teeth? 

8. Why must we keep the temporary teeth clean and 
have decayed places in them filled ? 

9. What foods are best for the teeth? How do we 
keep candy from injuring them? 

10. What teeth are called six-year molars? Why do 
they need special care? 


CHAPTER XVII 


OUR EYES 

To go even a short distance with the eyes shut is 
both difficult and dangerous. Do not try it. Good 
eyes are needed for our journey of growth, as well as 
for traveling about. 

Uses of the Eyes.—Our eyes are instruments of 
sight. They enable us to see objects both when they 
are near and when they are far away. As instruments 
of sight they aid the mind in getting information of 
all kinds. You know how much you use your eyes 
in reading and in other kinds of school work. The 
eyes also guide the body in its different movements. 
Without our thinking about it they direct us as we go 
from place to place, and they guide our hands as we 
reach out for objects or put them away. 

Another use of the eyes, but one which does not de¬ 
pend altogether on sight, is that of an aid to a good 
appearance. Even more than the mouth they aid in 
giving the face its different expressions. If they are 
bright and steady, they always make a good impres¬ 
sion for their owner (Fig. 49). 

Healthy Eyes for Work and Beauty.—For the 
eyes to serve their purposes in the best way they must 
be in good condition. It matters little about their 

141 


142 OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 

color either for work or for looks. Brown eyes, blue 
eyes, gray eyes, and black eyes are all pretty and all 
work well so long as they are healthy. To keep them 
healthy we must look after them in three ways, as 
follows: 

1. Protect them from accidents. 

2. Keep them free from germs. 

3. Keep them from becoming strained. 

How Accidents to the 

Eyes Occur.—To avoid acci¬ 
dents to our eyes and to the 
eyes of others, we must know 
the ways in which they are 
most likely to be hurt. The 
eyes have lids, which shut 
quickly to keep out dust and 
small objects that come near 
them. They are placed in 
deep, bony sockets, which protect them from be¬ 
hind and above and from both sides. And they have 
the nose in front to help protect them in this direction. 
So the eyes are not apt to be hurt if we fall or if large 
objects strike the head. The nose, the bones around 
the eyes, or the back of the head will receive the hard 
knocks instead. But the eyes have little or no pro¬ 
tection from small or pointed objects that may come 
toward them with force from the front. It is from 
such things that we need most to guard our eyes. 

When to Be Careful about the Eyes.—We should 
be especially mindful of the eyes when we are playing 



Fig. 49.— Healthy eyes 
are a valuable aid to 
beauty. 



OUR EYES 


143 


with an air rifle or with a bow and arrow. Either one 
of these dangerous playthings can easily destroy the 
sight. They should never be aimed at other children 
or fired in the direction of people. We must also be 
careful when we ar^ working or playing with anything 
that may explode. Many eyes are injured from fire¬ 
works and explosives on the Fourth of July and from 
explosions in the chemical laboratory. A good rule 
is to keep always at a safe distance from anything 
that may explode. We must watch out too when we 
are driving nails or breaking hard objects. The force 
from the hammer may throw the nail or a piece from 
the hard object directly into the eyes.* 

Bending over in the dark is still another time when 
we must think of our eyes. Pointed objects sticking 
up straight may injure them severely and even de¬ 
stroy sight. Holding the hands over the eyes when 
they are exposed to any kind of danger is always a 
worth-while precaution. 

Keep out the Germs.—Germs frequently make 
trouble for the eyes, and eye diseases caused by germs 
are usually contagious. Such diseases are also pain¬ 
ful, and some of them are dangerous to the sight. 
Hence, if the eyes become red and itch, smart, or burn, 
or the lids stick together when we wake in the morn¬ 
ing, we should have them examined by the school 

* Anything in the eyes, as a cinder, must be removed as soon as pos¬ 
sible, but always by some competent person. Many eyes have been 
injured by awkward attempts to remove small particles from beneath 
the lids. 


144 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


nurse or a doctor. Then if we have a germ disease of 
the eyes, we must have them treated until they are 
entirely well.* But just as important as having the 
eyes cured, is protection from the germs in the first 
place. We protect our eyes from germs by avoiding 
the ways by which the eye germs are spread. 

To Prevent the Spread of Eye Germs. —You may 
wonder how germs can pass from one pair of eyes to 
another. It may be done if the germs in diseased eyes 
get on to something that will carry them to the eyes 
that are well. One very common way in which this 
happens is by the use of the same towel by two or 
more persons. The person with sore eyes rubs the 
germs on to the towel, and the one using the towel 
afterward rubs them into his eyes. One having an 
eye disease should be careful not to have his towel 
used by another before it is boiled and washed. But 
fully as bad as the use of the same towel is the use of 
the same washbasin by two or more persons. Any 
one with sore eyes should have a washpan, or basin, of 
his own, and this should be carefully washed after he 
uses it. 

Some people think that eye diseases can be spread 
by looking into the eyes of those who have them. 

* One kind of eye disease, called trachoma (pronounced tra-kd'-ma), 
which is rather common in some places, often requires somewhat pain¬ 
ful treatments that must be given for some time. On this account, a 
child with trachoma may stop seeing the doctor before the cure is com¬ 
plete. This is a serious mistake, for trachoma, if it is not cured, may 
cause blindness. It is also contagious and the one having it may give 
it to others. 


OUR EYES 145 

This is not possible. The nurse or the teacher who 
examines the eyes of children is in no danger of get¬ 
ting dangerous germs if she is careful to wash her 
hands with soap and water after each examination in 
which she touches the lids, 

Eyestrain.—Eyestrain is the name of the trouble 
one has if he overworks the delicate eye muscles. 
Muscles on the outside of the eyeballs move them up 
and down and in and out, while muscles on the inside 
of the eyeballs focus them upon whatever we look at. 
If we overwork the eye muscles, they become sore. 
The eyeballs then get hard, and the eyelids become 
red and inflamed. If we now go on using the eyes, 
the strain becomes gradually worse, so that in time we 
may not be able to use them at all on close work. But 
even this is not the worst thing about eyestrain. 

Eyestrain and the Nerves.—Eyestrain is one of 
the worst of the enemies of the nervous system. It 
makes one cross and peevish and may cause him to 
worry about almost nothing. It keeps him from 
sleeping soundly and from using his mind to good ad¬ 
vantage. It is the most common of the causes of 
headache. Those who have made careful studies of 
the eyes say that more than half of our headaches 
come from eyestrain. It is one of the causes of nerv¬ 
ous breakdowns, and if it is long continued, it may 
check the growth. 

Eyestrain and the Appearance.—Strain may 
cause the eyes to lose their sparkle, or lustre, and to 
look dull. It causes the lids and the front of the eye- 


146 OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 

balls to become red, or inflamed, and it may cause 
styes and also scales at the roots of the eyelashes. It 
often causes ugly wrinkles in the forehead and around 
the eyes. In fact the whole expression of the face 
may be spoiled by a bad case of eyestrain. For the 
sake of our looks, as well as our nerves and the working 
power of our eyes, we must avoid this kind of trouble. 
To do this, we must avoid the causes leading up to it. 

The Main Cause of Eyestrain.—Eyestrain is 
caused chiefly by putting more work on the delicate 
eye muscles than they can stand. We may use the 
eyes too long without giving them a chance to rest. 
We may study too late at night. We may work in 
light that is too bright and also in light that is too 
dim. And we may form habits of using the eyes 
while in bad positions. But some eyes are strained 
even when we use them very little and with the great¬ 
est care. The cause of this is in the eyes themselves. 

Eyestrain from Eye Defects.—Very few eyes are 
entirely perfect. Some have faults, or defects, so 
great that they cannot work easily either for close 
work or for distant work. One kind of eye defect is 
called long sight; another kind, short sight; another 
kind, astigmatism; and still another kind, imbalance. 
If one has one or more of these defects, the eye 
muscles will have to work much harder than they 
would if the eyes were perfect. On this account they 
will be overworked, or strained, from doing only a 
small amount of work. 

Seeing with defective eyes is like working with a 


OUR EYES 147 

tool that is in bad condition. If we have to saw with 
a dull and rusty saw, we become tired and sore from 
using it only a short time. To saw even a little wood, 
we must work very hard. Fortunately our defective 
eyes can be put into good condition, though not in the 
same way that dull tools are sharpened. 

How Defective Eyes Are Made to Work with¬ 
out Strain.—The remedy for defective eyes is the 
wearing of glasses that correct the defects. The eyes 
are first tested, and the defects measured. Glasses 
are then ground that correct the defects, whatever 
they may be. Both the testing and the grinding must 
be done very carefully, for if the glasses do not fit, 
they will do little, if any, good. But when glasses 
are properly fitted and used, the eyes with defects do 
not have to work harder than they would if they had 
no defects. This keeps them from being overworked, 
or strained. Although well-fitted glasses nearly al¬ 
ways make one see better, their main use is to cure 
and prevent eyestrain. 

Glasses and the Appearance.—Many people need¬ 
ing glasses do not get them because they fear the 
glasses will mar their looks. Glasses properly fitted 
and then worn in neatly arranged frames have just 
the opposite effect. They greatly improve the ap¬ 
pearance. They do this by relieving the eyestrain 
which, as we have already seen, is very damaging to 
the appearance. By bringing back the lustre to the 
eyes, clearing up inflamed lids, and driving away 
wrinkles; the glasses restore the natural beauty of the 


148 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


face and eyes. Study the pictures on this page to 
see why the girl looks better with her glasses than 
without them (Figs. 50 and 51). 

Rest and Sleep for Tired Eyes.—Eyes without 
defects can, of course, be overworked. The same is 
true of eyes with defects that have been fitted with 
glasses. Whenever our eyes hurt from using them 



girl with glasses 


we should stop and give them a rest. When we are 
reading we can often delay the time for complete rest 
by lifting the eyes from the page and looking at some 
far-off object. But the best rest of all for the eyes 
comes from sleep. In sleep we not only rest the eye 
muscles but also the nerves used in seeing. By rest¬ 
ing the eye muscles and nerves, we can often sleep off 
the headache caused by eyestrain. 




OUR EYES 


149 


Light and the Eyes.—As we have already sug¬ 
gested, the light by which we study should be neither 
too strong nor too weak. Always, if possible, we 
should keep bright light from shining directly into 
the eyes. For reading, the light from the window or 
the lamp should come to the book from over the left 
shoulder. To read by light coming from the front or 
by cross lights is always harmful. Both in the school¬ 
room and at home electric lights should either be 
shaded or placed high up in the rooms so that we 
do not have to look into them as we work or walk 
about. 

Eye Needs of Children.—Childhood is an impor¬ 
tant period for the eyes in many ways. For one thing, 
the eyeballs of children are soft and through strain 
can easily be pressed out of shape. This causes cer¬ 
tain defects which are small in the beginning to grow 
gradually worse as time goes on. Myopia, or short 
sight, if it is corrected at the start amounts to little in 
preventing good vision. Neglected, it becomes most 
serious, as is shown by the strong glasses which some 
myopic people have to wear. If you are unable to 
read easily what is on the blackboard, be sure to tell 
your teacher about it at once. The cause may be 
myopia. 

A child will sometimes have one eye which is much 
more defective than the other, and he will, of course, 
see better with the good eye. As a result he uses the 
good eye more and more and the poor eye less and less. 
If this goes on for some years, he may lose the sight of 


150 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


the poor eye entirely. But if he obtains glasses that 
let him see as well, or almost as well, with the poor eye 
as with the good one, he w T ill keep his sight in both 
eyes. Just a little help at the right time for children’s 
eyes means much for their future. 

Habit Formation for the Eyes.—If you do not 
have these good habits already, begin to form them at 
once: 

1. Being careful in the use of anything that may 
injure the eyes. 

2. Keeping the hands clean. 

3. Resting the eyes when they are tired. 

4. Sleeping the full time that your age requires. 

5. Wearing glasses as needed. 

Break any of these bad habits that you may have: 

1. Reading when lying down. 

2. Reading on moving trains and automobiles. 

3. Attending too many picture shows. 

4. Reading too many stories. 

Facts Learned.—(1) Good health, beauty, and 
ability to work, as well as clear and comfortable vision, 
all depend upon good eyes. (2) Good eyes, in turn, 
depend upon how they are used and cared for. (3) 
We must guard our eyes against accidents, keep them 
free from germs, and protect them from strain. (4) 
Since the eyes are most easily injured during child¬ 
hood and early youth, proper care during this time 
will help through all the years to come. 


OUR EYES 


151 


Questions 

1. Give the main uses of the eyes. How do healthy 
eyes improve the appearance? 

2. In what different ways do accidents to the eyes 
occur? 

3. What is one way in which the germs causing eye 
diseases spread to eyes that are well? Illustrate. 

4. Why must one having trachoma go on having his 
eyes treated even though the treatments hurt? 

5. What is eyestrain? How is it caused? 

6. How is this trouble relieved and prevented? 

7. Fanny has frequent headaches and these are worse 
when she reads. What is the probable cause? 

8. Mary needs glasses, but refuses to get them because 
she is afraid they will mar her appearance. Is she right 
or wrong in her decision? Why? 

9. Jane has strained her eyes from reading too many 
stories. Should she read less or obtain glasses? Why? 

10. State the importance of proper care of the eyes 
while we are young. 


CHAPTER XVIII 


THE NOSE, THROAT, AND EARS 

Other parts of the body that require attention while 
we are growing up are the nose, the throat, and the 
ears. These parts are near together, as you know, 
and all connect with one another. 

Where the Body’s Highways Cross.—The throat 
is the place in the body where two very important 
roads cross. One is the road from the nose to the 
lungs—the road taken by the air in breathing. The 
other is that from the mouth to the stomach and is the 
road taken by what we eat and drink. At this cross¬ 
ing we have interesting arrangements to keep either 
the air or the food from taking the wrong road (Fig. 
52). When we swallow, for example, a kind of lid 
called the epiglottis closes the downward opening to¬ 
ward the lungs, while a kind of curtain called the soft 
palate closes the opening toward the nose (Fig. 53). 
This checks the air traffic and gives the food the right 
of way toward the stomach. After swallowing, the 
tube to the stomach closes, the palate drops, and the 
epiglottis lifts from the tube to the lungs. This gives 
the air the right of way both to and from the lungs. 
(Fig. 52.) 


152 


THE NOSE, THROAT, AND EARS 153 

The Pharynx.—The place where the food and 
the air roads cross and a part of the air road toward 
the nose are somewhat enlarged to form a kind of 
sack. This sack is called the pharynx (pronounced 
far-inks), and into this you can easily look by stand¬ 
ing before a mirror with your mouth wide open. Be¬ 
tween the mouth and the pharynx is the soft palate, 
and where the soft palate joins the throat walls, you 



Fig. 52.—Giving air the 
right of way. 



right of way. 


will see the tonsils—one on each side. The pharynx 
extends upward an inch or more from the part you 
can see and is joined at its upper end by nostrils, which 
are the openings through the nose. 

At the upper end of the pharynx we have what is 
sometimes called the third tonsil. Enlargements 
from this, caused by disease, are called adenoids . 
Opening from the upper pharynx on each side and 
connecting with the middle ear on the same side, is a 
small tube.called the Eustachian (pronouncedu-sta'- 








154 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


ki-an) tube. This tube lets air pass into and from 
the middle ear as may be necessary to keep the pres¬ 
sure in this place the same as that of the air on the 
outside of the body. 

Nose Breathing and Mouth Breathing. —On ac¬ 
count of the crossroads in the throat, air will reach 
the lungs when it is breathed through the mouth as 
well as when it is breathed 
through the nose. But breath¬ 
ing through the nose is the 
natural way to breathe, and it 
is also the way that is best for 
the body. As the air goes 
through the nostrils it is 
cleaned, warmed, and mois¬ 
tened and in this way put in 
good condition for entering the 
lungs. When it is breathed 
through the mouth, it fails to 
get this preparation. It may 
ing spoils the appearance, be dry and dusty and, in win¬ 
ter, too cold for the lungs. 

Mouth breathing is also bad for two other reasons. 
It spoils one’s appearance by forcing him to keep his 
mouth constantly open (Fig. 54), and it causes one to 
snore in his sleep.* 

* Snoring is caused by air striking against the soft palate. When 
we breathe through the mouth as we sleep, air strikes this curtain in 
such a way as to make it shake, or vibrate. It is the vibration of the 
soft palate that causes the noise called snoring. 



Fig. 54.—Mouth breath- 


THE NOSE, THROAT, AND EARS 155 

Causes of Mouth Breathing.—There are two 
main causes of mouth breathing. One of these is 
habit. The other is necessity. A child with a good 
throat and nostrils may have a cold in the head and 
be compelled for, several days to breathe through the 
mouth. During this time he may form the habit of 
breathing in this way, and he may continue it when 
the cold is well. But most chil¬ 
dren who breathe through the 
mouth do so because they can¬ 
not breathe in any other way. 

Either the nostrils themselves 
or the upper pharynx just back 
of them is stopped. The nostrils 
may be stopped from different 
causes, and the upper pharynx 
may be closed by adenoids. 

Either adenoids or stopped nos¬ 
trils may force one to breathe 
constantly through the mouth. 

To Overcome the Habit.—If mouth breathing is 
from habit, one can overcome the habit by constant 
effort to keep the mouth closed. If the mouth opens 
while one is sleeping, it is well to tie the jaws together, 
as shown in Figure 55. It seems that it ought to be 
easy to break this habit, but many times it is not. 
One easily forgets his breathing, and when he does 
this, he starts again to breathe through his mouth. 
But if he keeps on trying, he will sooner or later win 
the game. And what a victory for good health it 
will be! 



Fig. 55.—To prevent 
mouth breathing when 
one is asleep 






156 OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 

Cure through the Doctor.—If one has obstruc¬ 
tions either in the nose or in the upper pharynx that 
force him to breathe through the mouth, his only 
chance of ever breathing correctly is to have them re¬ 
moved by the doctor or by the surgeon. Removing 
them will, of course, hurt somewhat, but it is fre¬ 
quently necessary to suffer pain in order to have bet¬ 
ter health later on. At any rate, the brief period of 
pain will be as nothing compared to the continued 
discomfort, the bad appearance, and the bad health 
that come from leaving them in. 

Even with the obstructions removed, one may find 
that he will have to form the habit of nose breathing. 
We have already learned how this may be done. 

We Should Breathe through Both Nostrils.— 
Some children find it easy to breathe through one side 
of the nose and difficult, or even impossible, to breathe 
through the other. Suppose you close up one of your 
nostrils with a finger and see if you can draw air easily 
through the other one. Now try the other side in the 
same way. Are both sides open and free? If so, 
they are in a healthy condition. But if breathing is 
hard through one side, there is something wrong 
which the nose doctor should correct. Do not put off 
seeing him if you think something is wrong. Delay 
is apt to make the condition, whatever it is, worse. 

Inflamed and Swollen Tonsils.—When the ton¬ 
sils are healthy, they no doubt serve some purpose, 
though what that purpose is is not known. In some 
children the tonsils have become enlarged, or swollen, 


THE NOSE, THROAT, AND EARS 157 

and have become sore from germs living in them. 
Such tonsils do much more harm than they can pos¬ 
sibly do good. Germs from them are swallowed with 
the food and are also taken up by the blood and car¬ 
ried over the body. Rheumatism of the joints, dis¬ 
ease of the heart, and other troubles are caused by 
germs from bad tonsils. A child with enlarged and 
sore tonsils should see a doctor about them. If the 
doctor cannot cure them so that they give no further 
trouble, they should be removed. We should have 
healthy tonsils or none at all. 

Throat Aid from Warm Feet.—Have you ever 
thought that your feet could have anything to do with 
your throat? They can have a great deal to do with 
it, as you may see by the following case. A certain 
woman in a western town had a very bad throat; it 
had been sore for years. She had gone to different 
doctors about it, but none of them had been able to 
help her. Finally a friend told her of a doctor who 
had cured her of some bad illness. The woman went 
to this doctor about her throat. He made a very care¬ 
ful study of all the things that might be causing the 
trouble. He found among other things that she was 
bothered much with cold feet. They were cold all 
the time and caused great discomfort. The doctor 
decided that the cold feet were the main cause for her 
sore throat, and he soon had her doing several things 
to warm them up. He made her wear heavy shoes, 
walk a great deal, take tip-toeing exercises, and sit at 
times in her bare feet. As her feet got warmer, her 


158 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


throat got better, and when the cold feet were entirely 
cured, her throat gave no further trouble. 

A Possible Explanation.—Our feet are cold when 
there is too little blood flowing through them. If too 
little blood goes to the feet, too much must then be 
flowing to the head, neck, and other parts of the body. 
For some reason, too much blood flowing to the throat 
linings makes it easier for the germs to live upon them. 
Keeping the feet warm by having the right amount of 
blood flowing through them is a great help in having 
the right amount of blood flowing to the linings of 
the throat. 

Expose the Neck.—People with weak throats 
often make matters worse by wearing heavy scarfs or 
furs. Heating the neck in this way has the effect of 
making the throat linings weaker instead of stronger. 
The opposite plan should be followed. Except in 
very cold weather the neck should be kept bare or 
nearly so, while the rest of the body, especially 
the feet and legs, should be dressed comfortably 
warm. When the weather is very cold, we should pro¬ 
tect the entire body—the neck as well as the other 
parts. 

Avoid Colds.—When colds are frequent and se¬ 
vere, they have a bad effect upon the nose and throat 
linings. On this account we should have as few colds 
as possible and manage those that we have in the best 
way. 

Care of the Ears.—One of the very best ways of 
caring for the ears is to keep the nose and throat 


THE NOSE, THROAT, AND EARS 159 

healthy. This is because the worst of our ear 
troubles, such as ear abscess, or “rising in the head,” 
are caused by germs passing up the Eustachian tubes 
from the upper pharynx to the middle ears.* If the 
nose and throat are healthy, there are no bad germs 
to enter the tubes. For the sake of the ears, then, as 



A. Outer canal. B. Drum membrane. C. Eustachian tube. 

* The ear has three parts, or divisions — the external ear, the 
middle ear, and the internal ear. The external ear is the part on the 
outside of the head and the tube running from this to the middle ear. 
The middle ear is a small air chamber, separated from the external 
canal by a thin membrane called the drum membrane, and connecting 
with the upper pharynx, as already explained. It has a bridge of 
three small bones across it for conveying the sound waves from the 
drum membrane to the internal ear. The internal ear is on the side 
of the middle ear opposite the external ear. It contains liquids and 
nerves which receive the sound messages from the bridge of bones and 
dispatch them'to the brain. 







160 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


well as for the health in general, we must breathe 
through the nose, have adenoids, bad tonsils, and nose 
obstructions removed, and avoid colds as much as 
possible. In addition to this we should learn to blow 
the nose in a safe way. 

How to Blow the Nose. —The wrong way to blow 
the nose is almost to close the nostrils with the fingers 
and then to blow very hard. The effect of this kind 
of blowing is sometimes to force air, nose secretions, 
and germs up the Eustachian tubes to the middle ears. 
This may cause the painful “risings,” or ear abscesses, 
that children sometimes have. One can tell when he 
is likely to do harm in this way by feeling his ear 
drums push out when he blows. 

The right way to blow the nose is to blow it gently 
and without closing the nostrils too much. If you 
feel your ear drums press out the least bit, you are 
either blowing too hard or closing the nose openings 
more than you should. 

Care of the Outer Ear.— Although it is not so deli¬ 
cate as the parts of the ear within the head, the outer 
ear should have gentle treatment at all times. A 
severe blow on the side of the head may, by driving 
in the air, injure the drum membrane, and any pointed 
object thrust into the canal may do the same thing. 
Even the heavy sounds from explosions may injure 
the ear structures. This is why soldiers on firing a 
cannon frequently observe special precautions, such 
as standing on tiptoe with the mouth open or plugging 
the ears with cotton. 




THE NOSE, THROAT, AND EARS 161 

To Remove Foreign Objects from the Ears.— 

Anything lodged in the outer canal must always be 
removed by a doctor. He will have the proper im 
struments and know how to use them. No harm is 
likely to come from waiting until the doctor can be 
seen, but much harm may result from awkward 
attempts at removal with the wrong kind of instru¬ 
ment. 

Trouble from Earwax.—The familiar earwax, 
which is secreted by the lining of the outer canal as a 
protection against germs and small insects, may be a 
cause of much trouble. If the wax collects on the 
drum membrane or plugs up the canal, it may cause 
deafness. This may happen without pain or discom¬ 
fort in the ears, and perhaps the only warning we 
shall have will be that we are unable to hear as well as 
we should. Any one finding that he is not hearing so 
well as usual or so well as other people should have 
his ears examined for wax. This examination can 
be made only by the doctor, and the doctor is the only 
person who can safely remove the wax when found. 

To Clean the Ears.—Trouble from earwax is some¬ 
times caused by wrong methods of cleaning the ears. 
If we push hairpins, nails, or other hard and pointed 
objects into the outer canal in order to scrape out as 
much of the wax as possible, we irritate the canal lin¬ 
ing. This causes it to secrete more wax than it should 
and interferes with its natural method of discharge. 
It must never be done. In cleaning the ears, the 
rule is to use, only a soft cloth and warm water and to 


162 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


make no attempt to remove more wax than can be 
obtained by these helps. 

. Protect the Ears at Night.—A cold draft against 
the side of the head when one is sleeping, by chilling 
the surface, may cause too much blood to flow into 
the linings of the middle ear and the tube to the upper 
pharynx. This may cause earache and partial deaf¬ 
ness. One should, of course, never sleep in a strong 
draft. One who has had much trouble with his ears, 
however, may be affected in this way by only slight 
movements of the air in the bedroom—those neces¬ 
sary to good ventilation. Ears so sensitive as this 
require special protection at night, such as may be 
obtained from a sleeping cap made from some light 
material. 

Habit Formation for the Nose, Throat, and Ears. 

—If you do not have these habits already, begin to 
form them at once: 

1. Seeking medical aid for the nose, throat, and 
ears when it is needed. 

2. Breathing through the nose instead of through 
the mouth. 

3. Blowing the nose gently. 

4. Keeping the feet warm. 

5. Treating one’s own ears and those of others 
gently. 

If you have any of these bad habits, begin the work 
of breaking them today: 

1. Bundling up the neck on going out. 




THE NOSE, THROAT, AND EARS 163 

2. Wearing furs in warm weather. 

3. Blowing the nose with too much force. 

4. Inserting hard objects into the ears for remov¬ 
ing wax. 

5. Sleeping in drafts. 

Facts Learned.—(1) The nose, throat, and ears 
are connected in their work, and all require attention 
while we are growing up. All parts must be kept as 
healthy as possible. (2) Nose breathing as a habit 
must be established. (3) Medical aid for the removal 
of nose obstructions, adenoids, and diseased tonsils 
and for the protection of the ears and the hearing 
must be secured when it is needed. 

Questions 

1. Describe the crossroads found in the throat. How 
is the air and food traffic regulated at this place? 

2. Name three good reasons for breathing through the 
nose instead of through the mouth. 

3. How does mouth breathing injure the appearance? 
How does it cause one to snore? 

4. What are the two main causes of mouth breathing? 
What is the remedy in each case? 

5. What are adenoids? Why must they be removed? 

6. How can one tell whether he breathes through both 
nostrils or just one? 

7. How may one injure his ears by blowing his nose? 
Describe a proper method of blowing the nose. 

8. When should the tonsils be removed? When 
should they be left in the throat? 


164 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


9. How may adenoids and diseased tonsils injure the 
ears? 

10. What harm may come from picking the ears with 
hard and pointed objects? 

11. What kinds of ear trouble require the help of the 
doctor? 

12. What harm to the ears may result from sleeping in 
drafts? 



CHAPTER XIX 
SKIN AND CLOTHING 

The outer covering of the body, called the skin, not 
only grows as long as the body as a whole grows, but a 
part of it keeps on growing as long as we live. This 
may seem odd, but there is a reason for it. 

What the Skin Does for Us.—The main purpose 
of the skin is to protect the body. It protects us from 
hard and rough substances that may rub or strike 
against us. It protects us from the germs that cause 
disease. And it protects us from the action of strong 
gases that may be in the air and from strong liquids 
that may wet the body. Besides protecting the body 
the skin acts as an organ of touch, or feeling, and it 
aids in throwing off waste and in keeping the body 
from getting too hot or too cold. 

The Skin a Double Organ.—Our skin is made up 
of two layers. The outer layer, which we can see and 
touch, is called the cuticle, or scarf skin. The layer 
beneath the cuticle is called the dermis, or true skin 
(Fig. 57). These two layers are wholly different in 
their natures and in the purposes which they serve. 

The Cuticle.—The cuticle, or scarf skin, is made 
up of several thin layers of cells. While the cells in 
165 


166 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


its inner layer are alive and growing, the outer cells 
are dead and have flattened into thin scales that are 
constantly wearing off. As 
they wear off, others take 
their place from below so 
that a tough layer is always 
kept at the surface. No 
part of the cuticle has any nerves or blood vessels in 
it, and so it cannot feel pain or bleed when it is hurt. 

The cells in the lower 
layer of the cuticle have 
pigment, or coloring 
matter, in them. This 
gives the skin its color, 
which, as you know, is 
different in the differ¬ 
ent races. As we expose 
ourselves to sunlight, 
the pigment becomes 
darker and we are said 
to tan. Freckles are 
caused by the collect¬ 
ing of pigment in small 
patches in the cuticle. 

Hair and Nails.— 

Both the hair and the 
nails are outgrowths 
from the cuticle and, like the rest of it, have no blood 
vessels or nerves. The hair protects exposed parts 
of the body and improves our appearance. The nails 


Touch Corpuscles 



Fig. 58.—Skin structures 


Cuticle 
Dermis 
Fig. 57.—Our double layer 














167 


SKIN AND CLOTHING 

protect the ends of the fingers and toes. The finger 
nails also aid in picking up small objects, as you al¬ 
ready know. The hair grows by the addition of new 
cells at the inner end, or root. This rests in a small 
cup in the true skin, called the hair follicle (Fig. 58). 
The hair really grows inside this follicle and pushes the 
outer end farther out so that our hair becomes longer. 

The nails grow in length by the addition of new cells 
to their inner end, or root, and they grow in thickness 
by the addition of new cells to the underside. When 
they are not trimmed they become quite long and are 
much in the way. 

Why the Cuticle Keeps Growing.—In protecting 
the body from everything that might injure us from 
the outside, the cuticle is being constantly worn away. 
To replace what is lost, the cells next to the dermis 
must keep on growing and dividing to form new cells. 
The greater the wear at any place, the faster the new 
cells form, and the faster they are added to the cuticle. 
This is because more blood is drawn to these places 
by the pressure and rubbing that cause the wear. 
In some cases the new cells are added to the cuti¬ 
cle faster than the old ones are worn away. In this 
way thick and calloused places, such as corns, are 
formed. 

The Dermis.—The dermis, or true skin, is much 
thicker in most places than the cuticle. It is made 
up of many fine threads running in different direc¬ 
tions, and among these are the following parts: 

1. Many small blood vessels. The blood which 


168 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


these carry not only nourishes the true skin but also 
the living cells in the cuticle. 

2. Many small nerves. These end in tiny, round 
bodies, called touch corpuscles (pronounced kor'- 
pus-’ls) and give feeling to the skin. 

3. Many small tubes, called sweat glands. The 
inner ends of these tubes are 
coiled into small balls, while 
the outer ends pass through the 
cuticle and open on to the sur¬ 
face. Their openings may be 
seen in the palm of the hand 
with a small magnifying glass 
(Fig. 59). They are called 

pores. The sweat glands secrete perspiration, or 
sweat. 

Care of the Skin.—Three kinds of care are needed 
by the skin. It must be kept clean. It must have 
exercise in reacting. And it must be protected from 
germs. The method of keeping the skin clean, as you 
know, is that of bathing. 

Kinds of Baths.—For cleaning the entire body we 
use warm water in a bathtub. The water should not 
be over 100° F. Before leaving the tub we should 
turn on some cold water, for this, by chilling the skin, 
closes the pores and stops the sweating. The body is 
then quickly dried and rubbed with a coarse towel. 
A very good bath can be taken without the use of a 
bathtub, provided the room is comfortably warm. 
Warm water is applied to the body with a soft cloth 









169 


SKIN AND CLOTHING 

from a pan or washbasin. After this the skin is thor¬ 
oughly dried and rubbed. If the room is at all chilly, 
only a part of the body should be exposed and bathed 
at a time. 

Skin Reactions.—If we go outdoors on a winter’s 
day the skin first turns slightly pale and then becomes 
red. It turns pale because the blood at first leaves 
the skin, and it becomes red because the blood then 
flows back in larger amounts. The return flow is 
called the reaction. When our reaction is good, the 
blood continues to flow freely through the skin, mak¬ 
ing us feel warm and giving the skin a ruddy color. 
If our reaction is poor, the cold air may keep the blood 
from returning to the skin, or it may drive it back 
after it has returned. A great help in avoiding colds 
and other winter diseases is to have good reactions 
when we are exposed to cold. 

How We Improve Our Skin Reactions.—The 
skin reacts better to cold when it has exercise in react¬ 
ing. We get this kind of reaction by exposing our¬ 
selves to cold for short periods of time, as in dressing 
in cold rooms, going outdoors on cold days, and bath¬ 
ing quickly in cold water. Of course we must not 
overdo in exposing ourselves to cold, for the results 
are often harmful. It is also an aid to our skin reac¬ 
tions to avoid overheated rooms and the wearing of 
clothing that is too warm. During the hot days 
of summer we should wear very thin clothing and 
expose as much of our skin as possible to the air and 
sunshine. 


170 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


Protection of the Skin from Germs.—As long as 
the skin is healthy and has no wounds in it, we need 
not fear germs. It protects itself. But when the 
skin is broken, cut, or scratched, the germs may get 
into these places and cause much trouble. Skin pro¬ 
tection is, therefore, of two kinds: 

1. We avoid all kinds of accidents to the body, as 
explained later in Chapters XXIV and XXV. In ad¬ 
dition to this, we must be very careful in the use of all 



Fig. 60.—Steps in caring for a wound 


kinds of tools and protect our hands and face when 
exposed to danger. 

2. We treat any skin wound which we receive with 
some germ-killing medicine, as mercurochrome or 
iodine first cleaning it with warm, clean water if 
necessary. We then keep the wound bandaged, put¬ 
ting on a little more of the germ-killing medicine once 
a day, until it is entirely healed (Fig. 60) .* 

* There are certain kinds of wounds that ard very dangerous on 
account of the germs that may be in them and that need the doctor’s 
help as soon as this can be secured. These include deep wounds from 
rusty nails and dirty tools, wounds from the bites of dogs and other 
animals, wounds from explosives, and severe burns. Even the small 
wounds from Fourth of July explosions are dangerous and should be 
treated by the doctor. 



SKIN AND CLOTHING 171 

Care of the Hair.—The hair should be brushed 
and combed daily. Then at times it should be washed, 
either with water alone or with water and soap. 
When it is washed with soap, it must be rinsed with 
clear water before drying. Rubbing and kneading the 
scalp with the fingers causes more blood to flow to the 
hair roots, and this makes the growth more vigorous. 
This is also a good way to prevent baldness. Going 
bareheaded outdoors is supposed to have a good effect 
upon the hair. 

To Improve the Complexion.—The greatest aid 
to a beautiful skin is good health in general. When 
we are as well as we should be, the skin is clear and 
smooth and, from the rich blood flowing through it, 
has a ruddy color. Such skin requires little attention 
for beauty’s sake besides frequent bathing and the 
spending of much time outdoors. The “beautifiers” 
purchased at the drug store, some of which are injuri¬ 
ous, can add nothing to the fine complexion that comes 
from good health. 

The Clothing.—The hair of dogs and horses, the 
wool of sheep, and the feathers of birds are parts of 
the cuticle, and they protect these animals from cold 
and exposure. In place of these growths we have our 
clothing, which is sometimes called our extra, or sup¬ 
plementary, skin. It is better for us in many ways 
than any natural covering that might be grown. 

Use and Care of Clothing.—The amount of cloth¬ 
ing worn should vary with the weather: more should 
be used when it is colder, and less when it is warmer. 


172 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


In winter the feet and legs should be dressed as warmly 
as the rest of the body. Cotton or silk next to the 
skin and woolen clothing over this are considered best 
for most people. Another point in the use of cloth¬ 
ing is to dress according to our work or play—the 
rougher the work or play, the more durable should be 
the material in our clothing. 

On retiring at night we should put on our special 
night clothing and spread our day clothing over a 
chair to air. It should be a matter of pride to keep 
our clothing neat and make it last as long as possible. 

Habit Formation for the Skin.—If you do not 
have these good habits, you should begin forming 
them at once: 

1. Keeping the skin clean—bathing at least twice 
a week. 

2. Dressing according to the weather—using cloth¬ 
ing that is neither too light nor too heavy. 

3. Avoiding skin injuries of all kinds as much as 
possible. 

4. Taking proper care of such skin injuries as may 
occur, both the small ones and the large. 

Facts Learned.—(1) The skin, or outer covering 
of the body, protects the body in various ways and 
aids us in our work. (2) Clothing is like an extra 
skin in some respects, and it too aids and protects the 
body. (3) Both the skin and the clothing should be 
properly cared for. 


SKIN AND CLOTHING 
Questions 


173 


1. What are the uses of the skin? Name its two layers. 

2. What kinds of cuticle are on the body of a bird? On 
the body of a fish? 

3. How does clothing aid the skin in its work? In what 
ways is it superior to animal coverings that serve the same 
purposes? 

4. In what ways do we care for the skin? 

5. Name the different kinds of baths and give their use. 

6. When does the skin have a good reaction to cold? 
What are the advantages? 

7. How do we protect the skin from germs? 

8. Give some rules for the proper use and care of cloth¬ 
ing. 


CHAPTER XX 


GROWTH IN RESISTANCE 

As we grow older our bodies become better able to 
defend themselves against all kinds of enemies, in¬ 
cluding the germs that cause disease. This is a great 
aid to good health and should be an encouragement to 
all who, so far, may have been weak or sickly. 

Our Enemies, the Germs.—Germs are the sup¬ 
posed cause of all diseases that are contagious, or that 
one person can take from another. Such diseases in¬ 
clude whooping cough, measles, diphtheria, scarlet 
fever, smallpox, and many others. In order for us to 
“catch” one of these diseases, some of the germs caus¬ 
ing it must first enter our bodies. They must then 
begin to grow like so many small seeds and form new 
germs. When a sufficient number of germs have been 
formed to injure some part of the body or to poison 
the body as a whole, we become ill, or have the disease. 

But getting the germs of some disease does not al¬ 
ways mean that we are to have the disease. In many 
cases the body can keep the entering germs from 
growing and forming new germs, and this keeps us 
from becoming ill. The power of the body to do this 
is called its resistance. 

Increase of Resistance with Age.—The young 
child will catch almost any contagious disease to 

174 


GROWTH IN RESISTANCE 175 

which it is exposed. Later on it will catch fewer of 
them. By the time one is fully grown the number 
that will be taken when exposed will be very much 
fewer. Even the germ diseases that most grown 
people can take, such as pneumonia and tuberculosis, 
will not be caught so easily as they would have been 
at an earlier age. This clearly means that our re¬ 
sistance to germs increases as we move along on our 
journey of growth. 

Ways by Which Our Resistance Increases.— 

There are four main ways by which our resistance to 
germs is increased. These are as follows: 

1. By the natural increase in the strength and 
toughness of our bodies. To get into the body, the 
germs must enter at its outer surfaces—the skin and 
the delicate linings of the nose, throat, lungs, stom¬ 
ach, and other parts. All these parts of the body be¬ 
come thicker and tougher as we grow older. 

2. By a quick method for each disease in which 
we have the disease itself. 

3. By a slow method without having the disease. 

4. By vaccination. 

The last three of these methods need further ex¬ 
planation. 

How We Obtain Resistance by Having a Dis¬ 
ease.—During the time that we are having a germ 
disease, the germs are formed in great numbers and 
spread sometimes all through the body. They may 
injure the body directly, and they also secrete poisons 
that weaken it and make us feel bad in different ways. 


176 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


But the body is not so weak at this time as it seems. 
It is considerably more active in the ways in which it 
fights germs, and it may be a few degrees hotter, or 
have a fever.* It is now making within itself sub¬ 
stances which can destroy germs and do away with 
their poisons. These substances are called anti¬ 
bodies. When enough antibodies have been pre¬ 
pared, neither the germs nor their poisons can cause 
further injury. At this point we begin to recover. 
The antibodies have given us resistance. 

If the antibodies remain with us after we have re¬ 
covered, and they usually do, they keep us from again 
having the same disease. In many cases this protec¬ 
tion lasts as long as we live. 

Why We Should Avoid Germ Diseases.—Al¬ 
though having a germ disease is often the quickest 
and most thorough way of obtaining resistance to it, 
it is always better if we can obtain this resistance in 
some other way. Besides the pain, discomfort, and 
inconvenience of having the disease, there is also con¬ 
siderable danger. One may lose his life in this way, 
or, recovering, he may have some injury or blemish 
that remains with him permanently. We should 
avoid germ diseases whenever it is possible to do so. 

On the other hand, if we accidentally catch some 
germ disease, we should not be frightened on that ac- 

* Most doctors now look upon fever as serving a necessary purpose 
in the body's fight with germs. The higher temperature is supposed 
to aid in the production of antibodies. It is nothing that we should 
worry about unless it becomes very high. 


GROWTH IN RESISTANCE 177 

count. Knowing our danger, we should take the best 
possible care of ourselves both when we are sick and 
for some time afterwards, following the doctor’s ad¬ 
vice in all respects. After we have made a good re¬ 
covery, we can be glad that we have added to our re¬ 
sistance in this way. 

Resistance by the Slow Method.—In the case of 
a few diseases, such as whooping cough, scarlet fever, 
and diphtheria, if one does not have them while he is 
growing up, he seldom has them at all. We do not 
know just how we slowly gain this resistance, though 
it is probably after this manner. The body picks up 
now and then a few germs of these diseases, but never 
enough to cause the diseases in the active state. In 
fighting a few of the germs at a time it finally pro¬ 
duces enough of the antibodies to give complete pro¬ 
tection. 

This natural method of acquiring resistance would 
be just what we want if only it were more rapid and 
applied to more diseases. As it is, its value is not very 
great. Fortunately we have another method of ob¬ 
taining resistance without having the disease—one 
which is rapid and in many cases quite sure. 

Vaccination.—By vaccination we make the body 
fight germs when we want it to and develop the kinds 
of resistance we think it needs. We do this by put¬ 
ting into the body preparations called vaccines, which 
contain either the germs in a weakened state or the 
germ poisons. These excite the body and start it 
fighting, somewhat as it fights when it has the disease 



178 OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 

itself. But it fights mildly and with little or no fever, 
and there is not the danger from vaccination that there 


Fig. 61.—Dr. Edward Jenner 

is from the disease. In two or three weeks the body 
will have made enough antibodies to give good resist¬ 
ance for quite a while. 




GROWTH IN RESISTANCE 


179 


Vaccination has been studied by many scientists, 
and we now know how to vaccinate against several 
diseases. The two most important of these, as far as 
children are concerned, are smallpox and diphtheria. 

Smallpox Vaccination.—Smallpox vaccination 
was the first kind of vaccination practiced. It was 
first done in 1797 by Dr. Jenner of England (Fig. 61). 
It consists in making a slight break in the skin and 
putting into this the smallpox vaccine, which con¬ 
tains weak germs that are very much like the germs of 
smallpox. As these multiply and spread through the 
body, the body fights them. In so doing it gives us in 
a short time enough antibodies for good protection 
against smallpox. This resistance lasts for about 
seven years and often much longer. However, it is a 
good plan to be revaccinated after 
five years if there should be cases 
of smallpox in the neighborhood. 

Why Smallpox Vaccination 
Is Necessary.—Although small¬ 
pox sometimes appears in a mild 
form in which it does little harm, 
it is really one of our very worst 
diseases. In severe cases the body 
becomes covered with terrible 
sores, which cause great suffering 
and very often death. Those re¬ 
covering are badly marked by deep scars, which show 
the places where the sores were located. The face 
rarely escapes this marring effect (Fig. 62). Even the 



ered smallpox pa¬ 
tient 



180 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


mild forms of smallpox are dangerous because of their 
tendency to become more and more severe. Small¬ 
pox vaccination gives us almost complete protection 
against this terrible disease. 

Diphtheria Vaccination.—Diphtheria is one of the 
diseases against which our bodies slowly develop re¬ 
sistance without outside aid. It is customary, there¬ 
fore, before vaccinating a child, to give it a test to see 
if this resistance is not already strong enough. This 
is called the Schick test, and it is* easily made by the 
doctor. If the child does not already have enough 
resistance, a small amount of a liquid having in it a 
little of the poison from diphtheria germs is placed 
under the skin with a sharp, hollow needle. As the 
diphtheria poison spreads through the body, the body 
starts developing antibodies to overcome it. After 
two or three doses given a week or so apart, the body 
will have developed antibodies enough to keep one 
from catching diphtheria if he is exposed to it. This 
resistance will last for two or three years and some¬ 
times longer. 

Why Children Should Be Vaccinated against 
Diphtheria.—Like smallpox diphtheria is a very dan¬ 
gerous disease. Although we now have our serum 
treatment for diphtheria * and this is a great help, 


* The serum treatment is entirely different from diphtheria vaccina¬ 
tion. The serum used is a preparation from the blood of a horse and 
contains antibodies which the horse developed on account of being 
vaccinated with diphtheria toxin, or poison. Diphtheria serum is of 
great use in curing the disease because it contains antibodies already 


GROWTH IN RESISTANCE 181 

there are still many deaths among children from diph¬ 
theria. It is also very hard to avoid exposure to the 
disease when it is in the neighborhood. Eor example, 
a child in school may have diphtheria germs living in 
his throat. Since the throat is not sore enough to 
keep the child from school, he is constantly exposing 
the other children to the germs. Any one innocently 
exposed in this way is protected if he has been vac¬ 
cinated, and does not have to make a fight for his life, 
as he might have to do if he got the disease. Children 
should by all means be vaccinated against diphtheria. 

There are other dangerous diseases against which 
we should like to be vaccinated if we only knew how 
this might be done. Scientists, however, are study¬ 
ing the problem, and it may not be long before we can 
have this kind of protection against measles, scarlet 
fever, and other dangerous diseases. 

Germ Enemies against Which We Develop But 
Slight Resistance.—There are a few germ enemies 
against which we cannot develop a strong resistance 
of the kind that we have been studying. One of them 
is the common cold. In fighting these enemies the 
body uses other kinds of resistance, as you will learn 
from the next chapter. The kind of resistance stud¬ 
ied in this chapter is called specific resistance . Hav¬ 
ing it for one disease does not protect us from other 
diseases caused by germs. It must be developed for 
each disease separately. 

prepared. By vaccination we are forced to prepare our own anti¬ 
bodies, which last very much longer than those supplied by the serum. 


182 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


Facts Learned.— (1) Among the important powers 
which the body acquires as it lives from year to year 
is the power of defending itself against the germs that 
cause disease. (2) It gains this power rapidly when 
it is having a germ disease, but in a few cases it can 
develop it slowly without having the disease. (3) We 
can aid the body in this important work by a method 
called vaccination. 


Questions 

1. What is meant by the body’s resistance ? Give proof 
that it increases from year to year. 

2. In what ways is resistance acquired by the unaided 
body? How do we help the body in acquiring resistance? 

3. What are antibodies? What have they to do with 
our resistance? What is the quickest way of obtaining 
them? 

4. What are the objections to obtaining resistance by 
having germ diseases? 

5. How does vaccination protect us against certain dis¬ 
eases? 

6. Name the advantages of smallpox vaccination. 

7. Why should children be vaccinated against diph¬ 
theria? 


CHAPTER XXI 
RESISTANCE AND COLDS 

In having a cold we develop a slight resistance 
against the germs causing it, as explained in the last 
chapter. This helps us to recover and keeps us from 
having another cold for a time. Because resistance 
to colds does not last, we must find other means of 
fighting these enemies of the body. 

Colds Contagious.—Though mild in nature, a cold 
is really disease and is caused by germs. Like other 
germ diseases it is contagious, or catching. We can 
catch colds from people by breathing their germs. 
Here is a parody on an old but well-known rhyme 
that will help you to remember this important fact. 

Mary had a pesky cold ; 

It started in her head. 

And everywhere that Mary went, 

That cold was sure to spread. 

It followed her to school one day ; 

(There wasn’t any rule) 

It made the children cough and sneeze 

To have that cold at school. 

The teacher tried to drive it out. 

She tried so hard, ker-choo-oo! 

It did not do a bit of good, 

For teacher caught it too. 

183 


184 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


Since colds are usually mild, people think little 
about them. They go on about their work, leaving 
the colds to get well of themselves. This is the wrong 
way to manage. Neglected colds and neglected con¬ 
ditions causing colds are health enemies and should 
be treated as such. 

Why We Must Fight Colds. —There seem to be 
but two good ways of dealing with enemies. One way 
is to treat them kindly and change them, if possible, 
to friends. The other is to fight them. We must 
deal with colds in the second way and these are the 
reasons why: 

1. Colds are our natural enemies. They are al¬ 
ways fighting us. To protect ourselves we must fight 
them. 

2. Colds are wasteful enemies. They attack us 
frequently and interfere with our work. Investiga¬ 
tions show that colds cause more loss of time from 
work than any other single disease. 

3. Colds are dangerous enemies. They weaken us 
in various ways and make it easy for the germs caus¬ 
ing “flu,” pneumonia, tuberculosis, and other diseases 
to get a start. In fighting colds we fight these enemies 
also. 

4. Having colds ourselves endangers other peo¬ 
ple. If Mary had not had a cold, she would not have 
taken it to school and given it to the teacher and 
pupils. 

Weapons for Fighting Colds. —Fighting colds is 
a different kind of fighting from that which most boys 


RESISTANCE AND COLDS 185 

and girls know about. You doubtless know how to 
fight mice and rats and to swat flies (Fig. 63), and you 
may have seen boys fight each other. Fighting colds 
is different from all these, because we have to fight 
enemies too small for 
the unaided eyes to see. 

This means that we 
must fight them with 
weapons different from 
those used in ordinary 
fighting. Five go'od 
weapons for fighting 
colds are the follow¬ 
ing: 

1. Healthy linings 
of the nose and throat, 
or good resistance of ^ IG * ^ ^ swatter in action 
these parts. 

2. Good health for the entire body, or good general 
resistance. 

3. Good judgment both in exposing and in protect¬ 
ing ourselves in bad weather. 

4. Extra care while we are having a cold. 

5. Thoughtfulness for others. 

We must learn how to obtain these weapons and 
use them to the best advantage. 

Healthy Nose and Throat Linings.—Some chil¬ 
dren seldom have colds, while others have them often. 
There are two main causes for this difference. One 
cause is the resistance of the body as a whole. The 











186 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


other is the resistance of the linings of the nose and 
the throat.* Doctors and nurses who frequently ex¬ 
amine children know what a difference there is be¬ 
tween the throats of those who frequently have colds 
and of those who do not. As a rule, the lining of the 
throat of the child who seldom has a cold has a light 
pinkish color, and it and the tonsil on each side are 
healthy looking and smooth. It has no places in 
which cold germs or other germs can get a start. 

On the other hand, the throat lining of one who fre¬ 
quently has a cold is usually rough and swollen and 
has a deep red color, or is inflamed. The tonsil on 
either side may also be rough and swollen and appear 
unhealthy. Such a throat will have many places in 
which germs can live and increase in numbers. 

To Improve the Resistance of the Nose and 
Throat Linings. —If we have nose obstructions, ade¬ 
noids, or diseased tonsils that cannot be cured, we 
should have them removed. This will improve the 
resistance of the nose and throat linings and do other 
things which were explained in Chapter XVIII. But 
the things that we can do for ourselves are fully as 

* According to our present knowledge, the body uses three kinds of 
resistance in its defense against the germs that cause disease. These 
are the resistance of the body as a whole, called the general resistance; 
the resistance of its outer surfaces, called the local resistance; and the 
resistance which it develops against different kinds of germs, called 
specific resistance. The first depends upon general good health, the 
second upon a healthy condition of the body surfaces — the skin and 
mucous linings — and the third upon the development of antibodies, 
as explained in the last chapter. 


RESISTANCE AND COLDS 187 

important. These have already been stressed and 
are as follows: 

1. Breathe through the nose instead of through 
the mouth. 

2. Keep the feet warm. 

3. Spend as much time as possible outdoors. 
Fresh, cold air, for reasons not fully understood, has a 
very beneficial effect upon the nose and throat linings. 

4. Sleep in a cool, well-ventilated bedroom and in 
a warm and comfortable bed. 

Finally, when we have a cold we should try to re¬ 
cover as soon as possible. The method by which this 
is done is explained later. 

To Fight Colds by Keeping Entire Body 
Healthy.—Cold germs often get on the linings of the 
nose and throat without giving us a cold. This is be¬ 
cause they are killed by different things found in the 
blood. The blood has in it a great number of cells, 
called white corpuscles, which destroy cold germs and 
other germs that cause disease. It also has in it sub¬ 
stances besides the white corpuscles that destroy 
germs and overcome their poisons. When the entire 
body is healthy, the white corpuscles and other germ- 
destroying substances can do away with the cold germs 
as fast as they get into the mucous linings, so that no 
harm is done. But this power depends upon good 
health. It is called general resistance. To have good 
general resistance, we must have good health in gen¬ 
eral and also avoid things that weaken us even for 
short periods of time. 


188 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


Many people who are well most of the time take 
cold, pneumonia, and other diseases because they 
neglect the rules of health. They overwork or over¬ 
eat or let themselves get thoroughly chilled or use al¬ 
coholic drinks or do something else that weakens them 
for a short time. During the time of weakness the 
germs may obtain a start. 

‘‘Catching’’ Cold.—People so often start colds 
from getting chilled that they think the trouble comes 
from this cause alone. The name “cold” probably 
came from this mistaken idea. Colds are from at¬ 
tacks of germs. Becoming thoroughly chilled lowers 
the body’s resistance so that germs already on the 
mucous linings can get a start. In this way the cold 
begins. But we can start a cold for the same reason, 
and often as easily, by getting too warm. 

Avoid Overprotection.—A fond mother who 
prided herself upon the care she took of her delicate 
son was much disturbed by the frequent colds which 
he had. She dressed him warmly and in cold weather 
kept him constantly in the house. She had him sleep 
in a warm room and kept the windows down tight to 
prevent drafts. In spite of all this care the boy had a 
cold almost constantly. Her mistake was that of 
overprotection. In depriving him of cold, outdoor 
air she weakened his nose and throat linings. From 
lack of exercise and from keeping him too warm she 
lowered his general resistance. 

Instead of benefiting her son by her careful treat¬ 
ment the mother was helping the cold germs in their 


RESISTANCE AND COLDS 189 

attacks. Such mistakes are easily made. As far as 
colds are concerned, underprotection and overpro¬ 
tection are both harmful. We must seek a happy 
mean. 

Curing the Cold.—When we have a cold, we should 
rid ourselves of it as soon as possible. By good man¬ 
agement most children can cure their colds in a few 
days. From bad management a simple cold may last 
for weeks. Things that we may do to cure our colds 
quickly are the following: 

1. Keep comfortably warm. Becoming chilled 
starts the cold over again. 

2. Stop the usual work and exercise. We must 
save our energy for fighting the germs. 

3. Retire early at night and rise late in the morn¬ 
ing. If the cold is very bad, stay in bed. 

4. Take no medicine for the cold unless it be some¬ 
thing to move the bowels. The medicines that 
“break up” colds are said to weaken the body and to 
cause one to take cold more easily. 

Finally, we must be sure that we are entirely over 
the cold before we stop looking after ourselves. It 
is the nature of some colds to get worse just when we 
think they are cured. 

Stop the Cold-Spreader.—Have you ever been a 
cold-spreader ? Most people have been at some time. 
It has been only a few years since we first knew that 
colds are mild forms of disease and that they are con¬ 
tagious. Before people knew they could give the cold 
germs to others, they followed the plan of going where- 


190 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


ever they pleased when they had colds. Knowing 
better now and realizing also that colds are serious, we 
should follow a different plan. Those who have colds 
must, as far as possible, keep away from those who do 
not have them. For example, children with colds 
should sit apart from the other children at school and 
avoid playing with them until the worst stage has 
passed. 

Especially should any one with a cold avoid cough¬ 
ing, laughing, or talking in 
such a way as to throw his 
breath into some one else’s 
face. He should catch the 
cough or the sneeze in a hand¬ 
kerchief (Fig. 64). One who 
is careful in these and other 
ways is not a cold-spreader. 
Instead he is practising a very 
important rule. 

The Golden Rule of Hygiene.—Of course you 
know about the Golden Rule of conduct. It is in the 
Bible and is one of the teachings of the Savior. 
Briefly stated, it is, “Do unto others as you would 
have them do unto you." This applies just as much 
to the spreading of contagious diseases as to our treat¬ 
ment of people in general. Stated as a rule of hygiene, 
it would be this: 

As we would that others protect us from their germs, 
so should we protect them from our germs. 

Diseases Which Are like Colds in Their Begin¬ 
ning.—Measles, “flu," scarlet fever, tonsillitis, diph- 



Fig. 64.—Catching the 
sneeze stops disease. 


RESISTANCE AND COLDS 191 

theria, and a few other diseases are much like colds 
when they start and are easily mistaken for them. To 
have one of these diseases and to act as though we had 
only a cold is, of course, to make matters much worse. 
On this account we should stay at home if we have 
something like a cold that is very severe—something 
that makes us weak, or feverish, or makes our muscles 
or our bones ache. This will be better for us, and it 
may keep us from spreading one of the diseases named 
above. 

Habit Formation for Colds.—If you do not have 
these good habits already, begin to form them at once: 

1. Dressing moderately warm in winter and keep¬ 
ing feet warm and dry. 

2. Covering the mouth with a handkerchief or the 
hand when you cough or sneeze in the presence of 
others. 

3. Taking care of yourself when you have a cold. 
Break any of these bad habits that you may have: 

1. Visiting when you have a cold. 

2. Taking quinine or some other medicine to 
“break up" a cold. 

3. Talking or laughing in the faces of others when 
you have a cold. 

Facts Learned.— (1) A cold is a contagious disease 
of a mild nature which attacks the nose and throat lin¬ 
ings. (2) It may produce an unhealthy condition in 
these linings and prepare the way for other and more 
serious troubles. (3) We must do what we can to 


192 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


prevent colds in the first place and cure them quickly 
when they occur. (4) In fighting these small enemies 
of the body we are also protecting ourselves against 
such dangerous enemies as pneumonia and tubercu¬ 
losis. 


Questions 

1. What is the nature of a cold? How are cold germs 
spread from one to another? 

2. Why should we avoid having colds as much as pos¬ 
sible? Why should we take good care of ourselves when 
we have them? 

3. How may we fight colds before we have them? 

4. What kind of lining in the nose and throat is an aid 
to the cold germs in getting a start? What kind keeps 
them out? 

5. How does good health protect us from colds? 

6. Do we catch the cold, or does the cold catch us? 
Explain. 

7. What changes would you suggest to the mother 
mentioned on page 188, in the care of her son? 

8. How must we manage if we would recover quickly 
from colds? 

9. Why should children with colds at school sit apart 
from the other pupils? 

10. State the Golden Rule of hygiene. Mention some 
ways by which we may practice it. 


CHAPTER XXII 
MENTAL GROWTH 

With the growth of the mind we have an increase in 
power—not an increase in size and weight, such as we 
studied in Chapter IV. Mental power, as every one 
knows, is the most important and wonderful of all our 
powers. Of course we all want to have as much of it 
as we can. 

Mental Growth of Many Kinds.—With the mind 
we know and remember things, and with the mind we 
think and reason. We love with the mind, hate with 
the mind, and through the mind we experience joy 
and happiness, as well as disappointment and sorrow. 
It is through the mind, too, that we can control our 
actions—make ourselves do things that are unpleas¬ 
ant but necessary, and keep ourselves from doing 
wrong things for which we have formed a habit. 
There are, as you see, many kinds of mental power. 
One of the most interesting of these in its growth, or 
development, is called the intelligence. 

Meaning of Intelligence.—Intelligence means be¬ 
ing able to recognize and understand the things about 
us, to think and to reason. We have some intelli¬ 
gence at a very early age, but just how early no one 

193 


194 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


knows. The poet, J. G. Holland, expresses this idea 
in the following lines: 

“Who can tell what a baby thinks? 

Who can follow the gossamer links 
By which the mannikin feels his way 
Out from the shore of the great unknown, 

. . . Into the light of day?” 

But our intelligence grows along with our bodies. 
Have you not noticed that you can do harder things 
with your mind now than you could do last year or the 
year before? 

Tests for the Intelligence.—Students of the mind, 
called psychologists, have made up a series of inter¬ 
esting tests by which one's intelligence can be meas¬ 
ured. These are not questions calling for informa¬ 
tion, such as are usually asked at school examinations, 
but problems that test our power to think and to 
reason. Some of these tests are so simple that a 
three-year old child can pass them, while others are too 
hard for some grown-ups. Between these two ex¬ 
tremes are problems that suit all ages from three to 
sixteen years. 

Intelligence Growth as Shown by Tests.—The 

average child of three years can point to different parts 
of his body, give his family name, and name objects 
seen in a picture. These are tests for three-year in¬ 
telligence. When he is four years old, the child can 
copy a square, tell which is the longer of two lines, and 
repeat two, eight, five, nine, or some other four digits, 


MENTAL GROWTH 195 

after you. His intelligence has advanced a year. 
Let four years more pass, and he can count backward 
from twenty to one, tell the respects in which a ship 
and an automobile are alike, and name, at sight, six 
different coins. He now has eight-year intelligence. 
If he grows normally from now on, he will each year 
be able to pass harder and harder tests because of his 
steady growth in intelligence. 

Growth in Knowledge.—Through his eyes, ears, 
and other senses, the child is constantly receiving im¬ 
pressions from the world about him. The results of 
these impressions are stored in the nervous system, 
and he can recall them at will in memory. He is also 
impressed by what he does and by what other persons 
do—by what they say, how they look, and what they 
do for him and to him. These impressions are also 
stored away for future use. Each day he learns some¬ 
thing new, so that his fund of knowledge grows with 
his growing body. Our growth in knowledge can also 
be tested, as you well know. 

Growth in Power of Control.—The young child 
has but little control over his muscles, as you can see 
from the awkward way in which he handles his play¬ 
things. He has great difficulty in copying a simple 
figure or even in following a straight line with a pencil. 
But we know that this power increases with the years, 
even with the child whose muscles are untrained. As 
the muscles are given practice in doing different 
things, the increase is, of course, more rapid. Con¬ 
trol of one’s temper also increases from year to year 


196 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


and it, too, increases more rapidly as one practices 
control and builds up habits of good-nature and 
courtesy. 

Will-Power, or Determination.—The power 
which we call the will, or determination, is but a part 
of our general power of control. One who has a strong 
will and pushes on against difficulties, is said to be 
persistent, or persevering. Some persons, however, 
are too persistent in certain ways; they insist on hav¬ 
ing their own way when they know that the advice of 
their parents, teachers, and friends ought to be fol¬ 
lowed. Such persons are called “stubborn.” We 
should avoid stubbornness, yet it is of the greatest im¬ 
portance that we have will-power enough to overcome 
difficulties, to control our speech, and to finish any 
important work that we have started. Will-power, 
as most mothers know, is shown at a very early age. 

Thoughtful mothers do not try to “break” entirely 
the developing will. They try rather to give it proper 
direction. The advantage of this kind of treatment 
comes later in life when every one needs “the will to 
win,” which means the determination to succeed in 
what one undertakes to do. 

Growth of the Emotions.—By our emotions we 
mean such feelings as love, hate, joy, envy, and cheer¬ 
fulness. These are shown early in childhood. Even 
an infant two weeks old shows pleasure by smiling and 
displeasure by crying. Long before bodily growth is 
finished or intelligence is fully developed, most of our 
emotions are about as strong as they will ever be. 



MENTAL GROWTH 197 

As to aiding their development, there is little or noth¬ 
ing for us to do. Our problem with the emotions is 
one of control. 

Control of the Emotions.—Some of our emotions, 
like joy and cheerfulness, are very helpful. They aid 
us in our work, make us liked by others, and benefit 
our health. Others, like anger, hate, and worry, are 
harmful, as a rule. So far as we can, we should culti¬ 
vate the emotions that are helpful and avoid those 
that are harmful. This calls for patience and 
thoughtfulness on our part and the exercise of self- 
control. But the greatest help of all, perhaps, is the 
development of a good disposition, as you will see from 
the next book of this course. 

How We Aid the Mind in its Growth.—The mind, 
like the body, needs exercise. Every power of the 
mind improves when we give it the kind of exercise it 
needs. We remember facts better when we try to 
make ourselves remember. We can solve problems 
in arithmetic more easily when we work out the an¬ 
swers for ourselves. And our will-power, or deter¬ 
mination, is increased by overcoming difficulties. 
There is as much difference between the mind trained 
through exercise and the untrained mind as there is 
between the bodies of those who take enough exercise 
and those who do not. 

Some Points in Mental Training.—How we use 

our minds in our mental exercise, or work, however, 
makes a difference in the effect which this may have 
upon their growth, or development. If we want a 


198 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


mind that can think out things, make discoveries, or 
invent new machines, then we must look for exercise 
along these lines. For one thing, we must learn to 
work independently and to think for ourselves. At 
school the mistake must not be made of accepting too 
much help from other pupils or the teacher. This 
deprives one of exercise in 
thinking. Another good 
plan is to think out care¬ 
fully in advance the best 
way of attacking a problem 
or of overcoming some dif¬ 
ficulty. One of the best 
ways of trying out this plan 
of thinking ahead is in the 
Fig. 65.—Think ahead in working of puzzles. Of 
working out this puzzle, course you are fond of 
working puzzles. 

An Illustration of Mental Attack.—In Figure 65 
are shown some pieces cut from cardboard. These 
were obtained by first cutting out the letter T and 
then cutting this into the four pieces shown. The 
problem is so to arrange the pieces as to again form 
the letter T. Now if we proceed without thinking, 
trying them first in one position and then in another, 
we shall probably work a long time before we get each 
piece where it belongs. On the other hand, if we be¬ 
gin by studying the shapes of the pieces with reference 
to the shape of the T, we shall soon see that the three 
pieces with square ends must form the three ends of 










MENTAL GROWTH 199 

the T. If we then lay these in the only positions in 
which they can come in the T, we shall soon find where 
the fourth piece must be placed in order to make the 
letter complete. The right method of attack makes 
this problem easy. 

How the School Aids in Mental Growth.—In the 

first place, the school makes our learning more rapid. 
By putting our minds to work on definite tasks in 
learning, we advance many times faster than we 
should if our efforts were “hit-or-miss.” In the sec¬ 
ond place, we learn in school the things of greatest 
value. We learn to read, to write, to solve problems 
in arithmetic, and to look after our health, because 
we shall have use for this knowledge all through life. 
And in the third place, the school gives us more and 
better training in the use of our minds than we could 
obtain by our own unaided efforts. What the school 
does for us, however, depends largely upon what we 
do for ourselves. Real advancement must come 
through our own efforts. 

Mental Growth and Health.—Good health aids 
mental growth as well as physical growth. In good 
health we have plenty of bodily energy, are free from 
aches and pains, and eat well and sleep well. All these 
conditions aid mental growth in one way or another. 
Good health also has a good effect upon the emotions, 
helping us to feel those that are helpful and to avoid 
those that are harmful. One good way to help our 
mental growth, therefore, is to do all we can to keep 
well. 


200 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


Value of the Trained Mind.—The mind that can 
think and reason and that has been trained to work is 
perhaps the most valuable thing in the world. Such 
a mind often makes the difference between success 
and failure, the difference between health and sick¬ 
ness, and the difference in the length of time that dif¬ 
ferent persons live. Efforts toward obtaining it are 
certainly worth while. 

Although mental growth and development do not 
stop when bodily growth is finished, youth is the time 
when most of it occurs. Hence, the advice of Solo¬ 
mon to the young of his day must hold for all time.* 

Habit Formation and the Mind.—If you do not 
have these habits already, begin at once to form them: 

1. Controlling your temper. 

2. Thinking for yourself. 

3. Finishing all worth-while tasks that you have 
started. 

If you have any of these habits, begin at once to 
break them: 

1. Drawing hasty conclusions. 

2. Seeking help on things that you can do for your¬ 
self. 

3. Worrying about trifles. 

Facts Learned.—(1) Mental growth is growth in 


* “Wisdom.is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom. And with 
all thy getting, get understanding. Forsake her not and she shall pre¬ 
serve thee: love her and she shall keep thee . . . Take fast hold of 
instruction; let her not go: keep her; for she is thy life.” Selections 
from Proverbs: IV. 


MENTAL GROWTH 


201 


the most important of all our powers. (2) It is of 
different kinds, some of which can be easily studied. 
(3) Growth in intelligence, in knowledge, in self- 
control, and in ability to use the mind can be noticed 
from year to year. (4) While the mind grows natur¬ 
ally, as the body does, we can aid and direct its growth 
in many ways. 


Questions 

1. What do we mean when we speak of the intelligence? 
What is the proof of its increase from year to year? 

2. Give some tests for four-year intelligence. For 
eight-year intelligence. 

3. At about what age might we expect one to work 
without help the puzzle given on page 198? Give reason 
for your answer. 

4. In what different ways may we aid our mind in 
growing? 

5. What is the difference between thinking and remem¬ 
bering? Which do you consider the more important? 
Why? 

6. In what ways does the school aid in our mental 
growth? How do we help the school in helping us? 


CHAPTER XXIII 

OTHER FORMS OF MENTAL GROWTH 

Along with our growth in intelligence and knowl¬ 
edge and our ability to use the mind, we develop cer¬ 
tain traits, or qualities, that have a great deal to do 
with our success and with what people think of us. 
Chief among these are courage and self-confidence, 
dependability, patience, cooperativeness, and good 
character. 

Growth in Courage and Self-Confidence.—To see 

what advance we make during our growing years in 
courage and self-confidence, we need only to compare 
children of two or three years with young men and 
women of eighteen or twenty. At three we have 
timid little creatures who shrink from all kinds of 
danger and often cry when they are left alone. At 
eighteen we have young men and women who seek 
adventure, laugh at danger, and in athletic battles are 
not discouraged by painful bruises and broken bones. 
Our growth in courage and self-confidence is truly 
wonderful. 

Courage and Self-Confidence as Preparation for 
Living.—Life has dangers that must be faced by all. 
There are dangers in crossing streets and railroad 
tracks, dangers from riding in boats and automobiles 
202 


OTHER FORMS OF MENTAL GROWTH 203 


and on trains, dangers in running all kinds of ma¬ 
chinery, and dangers in having different kinds of dis¬ 
ease. A self-confident and courageous person is one 
who can keep cool and think clearly in the presence of 
danger. He is not reckless or careless; in fact he may 
be overcautious. But in facing danger he is not 
overcome by fear. He can use all his powers to avoid 
or ward off whatever threatens his safety. 

Helps in the Development of Courage and Self- 
Confidence.—A great help in gaining courage and 
self-confidence is to meet bravely any kind of hard¬ 
ship or trouble that one may have. To suffer pain 
for the sake of better health later, to tell the truth 
when this means punishment, and to act as a brave 
person should act when in the presence of danger are 
all ways of exercising courage. The result will be to 
increase one’s courage. 

Another good help is to use reason and common 
sense in deciding what is really dangerous. Some 
little children fear darkness, others fear spooks and 
ghosts, and others fear men with long beards. Rea¬ 
son and common sense tell us that darkness can harm 
no one, that spooks and ghosts do not exist, and that 
men with beards are no more dangerous than men 
j without beards. Why should we be afraid when 
| there is no cause for fear? 

Still another good help is to learn to control the 
things that may cause injury. As we feel more con¬ 
fidence in our ability to protect ourselves, we cease to 
fear. Lindbergh, for example, found that his cour- 



204 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


age as a flyer was greatly increased when he learned 
to make descents from his plane in a parachute 
(Fig. 66). 

Growth in Dependability.—When John was six 
years old, his mother 
gave him some peas to 
plant in rows already 
marked out in the gar¬ 
den. She showed him 
how to plant each pea 
and cover it up in the 
row. But John did not 
want to plant peas; he 
wanted to play instead. 
When his mother had 
gone into the house, he 
dug a few shallow holes 
in the rows and dumped 
all the peas into these 
holes. He then drew 

dirt over the rows in 
Fig. 66. Knowing how to save order to make them 
oneself in serious danger gives look as th h he had 
courage. , , & 

planted the peas as 

told. John at six was not a dependable gardener. 

Later when the peas came up in bunches where he 
had made the holes, his mother knew just what John 
had done. She felt badly about it, but did not punish 
John. She thought that perhaps she had asked him 
to do something beyond his age. Instead, she ex- 





OTHER FORMS OF MENTAL GROWTH 205 

plained what his failure to carry out orders meant to 
their food supply for the summer. There the matter 
was allowed to rest. 

The next year John was given the same task. This 
time he planted the peas exactly as he had been told. 
They came up in beautiful rows and bore a good crop. 
Thus at seven John was dependable so far as planting 
peas was concerned. He had grown in dependability. 

Training in Dependability.—Would John have 
planted the peas the second time as he was told had he 
not had his lesson the year before? It is doubtful. 
Training of the right kind is a very great help. Par¬ 
ents who realize the importance of such training begin 
with their children very early in life. The child of 
two or three is required to look after his playthings, 
putting them away when he is through playing. 
Later he is taught to run errands and required to care 
for any pets he may have. As he grows older he is 
held responsible for greater duties but for none greater 
than he can do. While training by others is helpful, 
the best training is that which we give ourselves. 

Results from Self-Training.—Since dependability 
means ability to do what we agree to do and what is 
expected of us, we have but one thing to keep in mind 
as we work for improvement. This is to do as well as 
possible all our duties—the small ones as well as the 
large. If we have made an appointment, we keep it. 
If we owe a small debt, we pay it. If mother has a job 
for us at home, we do not disappoint her. If we have 
agreed to distribute circulars from house to house, we 


206 OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 

do it at the time we are supposed to. As we become 
dependable in little things, we form habits that make 
us dependable in things that are harder and more 
important. 

Dependability in Modern Life.—Have you ever 
happened to think that we are all more or less de¬ 
pendent upon some one else for something we need or 
for aid in our work? If the person upon whom we 
depend fails to do what is expected, we are at a dis¬ 
advantage. We may fail in our tasks because we did 
not get the expected help. In the same way we may 
cause others a great deal of trouble if we fail often 
to do what is expected of us. People can live and 
work together in the modern way only when each per¬ 
son is dependable and each does his part. 

Patience.—Patience means willingness to try again 
when our efforts so far have not been successful. No 
doubt you admire the graceful airplane as it soars 
overhead. But have you read of the number of air¬ 
planes built by Wilbur and Orville Wright, the in¬ 
ventors, before they could make one that would fly 
at all? It is this way with most things that are 
worth while in life. To succeed finally we must keep 
on trying. But patience also means the willingness 
to wait when waiting is necessary. Many things, 
like the growing of crops, the training of children, and 
the building of a fortune by honest means, cannot be 
hurried. We must work patiently for a long time. 

Patience, as a rule, develops slowly. It increases 
with experience in living and by our putting into prac- 


OTHER FORMS OF MENTAL GROWTH 207 

tice the patience we already have. Of course we 
should all cultivate patience. 

Growth in Cooperativeness.—Ability to work and 
to play with others is an important as well as a pleas¬ 
ing quality. Its development starts early in life. It 
is seen first, perhaps, in the desire of small children to 
help their parents and in their willingness to share 
their playthings with one another. Soon after this 
comes the pleasure of having playmates and a few 
years later the greater pleasure of working and play¬ 
ing with schoolmates. Then in playing athletic 
games boys and girls have to cooperate with their 
team mates. These and other steps lead up to the dif¬ 
ferent kinds of cooperation in which we must play our 
part when grown. 

Train for Cooperation.—Some children lag behind 
in their play and so are not much sought after in play¬ 
ground contests. They do not cooperate with other 
children easily and quickly. To use the playground 
expression, they do not “get into the game/' If you 
have this fault, you should try to overcome it. Study 
your games and improve your playing at points where 
you are weak. Be loyal to your leaders and in actual 
playing do what is expected of you. All this is good 
preparation for whatever you are to do in later life. 

Growth in Character.—The character of a person 
is a combination of qualities, some of which have al¬ 
ready been studied. Dependability, courage, hon¬ 
esty, faithfulness, loyalty, fair-mindedness, and sev¬ 
eral others make up the list. Just as there is growth 


208 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


in courage and dependability, there is growth, or de¬ 
velopment, in the other qualities that make up char¬ 
acter. One’s character is sometimes confused with 
his reputation, though the difference is clear and dis¬ 
tinct. Our reputation is what people in general think 
of us. Our character is what we really are. 

The best test of our character is found in our treat¬ 
ment of others, including their property. If we are 
honest in our dealings and treat our neighbors as we 
want our neighbors to treat us, we can be pretty sure 
that we are developing a good character. 

How Character Grows.—Growth in character de¬ 
pends upon the habits we form. As we act again and 
again in the same way under like circumstances, we 
build up habits that cause us to go on acting in a cer¬ 
tain way whether it is good or bad. So, you see, one 
who would build a good character must control his 
acts. By our acts we form our habits, and through 
our habits we form our character. 

Habit Formation for Mental Traits and Good 
Character.—If you do not have these good habits, 
begin at once to form them: 

1. Overcoming the little fears of everyday life. 

2. Performing simple duties and keeping promises. 

3. Trying again when first efforts fail. 

4. Cooperating with others when cooperation is a 
part of the game. 

5. Being honest under all circumstances. 

Facts Learned.— (1) While we are growing in 
knowledge and intelligence, we are building up all the 


OTHER FORMS OF MENTAL GROWTH 209 

time certain traits or qualities. (2) These include 
courage and self-confidence, dependability, patience, 
cooperativeness, and good character. (3) While all 
these traits grow naturally to some extent, we can aid 
them in their development and thus add greatly to the 
final results. 


Questions 

1. Why do we need courage and self-confidence in 
everyday living? 

2. How is one to overcome groundless fears? How 
may he become brave in the face of danger? 

3. When is a person said to be dependable? Why is 
dependability a quality that all should cultivate? 

4. How do parents develop dependability in their chil¬ 
dren? 

5. Give an example of cooperation. How does being 
dependable help one to cooperate? 

6. What is meant by one’s character? How does it 
differ from one’s reputation? 

7. How does one develop a good character from day 
to day? 

8. Mary was sent to the store to buy groceries. Her 
mother gave her a dollar and told her to keep what was 
left when the groceries were paid for. The clerk in giving 
Mary the change made a mistake of ten cents in her favor. 
This she promptly returned. What were the advantages 
to Mary from being honest? 

9. Lucy has the habit of getting angry and of causing a 
“scene” whenever she fails to have her own way. While 
this is hard on her parents and friends, is it also hard on 
Lucy? Why? 


CHAPTER XXIV 
AVOIDANCE OF ACCIDENTS 


Journeys of all kinds are frequently delayed and 
sometimes stopped altogether by accidents. Our 
journey of growth is no exception. To make our 

growth journey safe and 
successful, we must 
avoid all kinds of serious 
accidents. 

What Accidents Are. 

—Accidents are happen¬ 
ings that occur without 
our expecting them. A 
boy going to school trips 
on a loose board and falls 
(Fig. 67). This is an 
Fig. 67 .— A common accident accident. It was unex- 
that may be easily prevented pected. The results of 
such an accident are usu¬ 
ally slight—a spilled lunch, soiled clothes, and perhaps 
bruised hands and knees. But accidents are often 
serious. Legs and arms are sometimes broken, and 
deaths by accidents are all too common. It is because 
of the serious nature of accidents that we should study 
to avoid them. 



210 


AVOIDANCE OF ACCIDENTS 


211 


Why Accidents are Preventable.—Although ac¬ 
cidents occur without our planning for them, they are 
always the result of some cause. If we make a study 
of the causes of accidents and then avoid or remove 
the causes, we can avoid the accidents themselves. 
It is said that most accidents are the result of careless¬ 
ness. This means that people do not look for the 
causes of accidents as they should and do not remove 
the causes that they know to exist. 

Causes of Accidents.—There are many causes of 
accidents and some of them we need not think about at 
this time. But we should know the causes of the ac¬ 
cidents that are occurring every day about us, espe¬ 
cially the causes of these six kinds: 

1. Falls. 

2. Burns. 

3. Accidents from water. 

4. Accidents with firearms and explosives. 

5. Accidents with automobiles. 

6. Accidents with street cars and railroad trains. 

The causes of accidents of the first three kinds are 

considered in the present chapter, and causes of the 
last three kinds, in the chapter which follows. 

Causes of Falls.—One common cause of falls is 
lack of skill in balancing the body and in moving 
about. Nature has given us two wonderful instru¬ 
ments for keeping ourselves in an upright position. 
They are found in the skull bones close to the ears, 
one on each side of the head. They are called the 
semicircular canals. When we lose our balance, or 


212 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


start to fall, there is a slight movement in our balanc¬ 
ing instruments that makes us straighten up, or catch 
ourselves. We do this without thinking. Lack of 
skill in keeping the body balanced may be from some 
fault in these instruments, but it is more apt to be 
from some other cause. One may not be keeping his 
muscles and nerves in good condition by exercise, he 
may not have had enough practice in keeping his bal¬ 
ance under different conditions, or he may be wearing 
the kind of shoes that make his balancing difficult. 

A good exercise in keeping one’s balance is to walk 
a narrow board set firmly on edge, as shown in Figure 
68. Balancing over one foot, as in hopping, is an¬ 
other good exercise for this purpose. 

Faulty Footwear a Cause of Falls.—In standing 
and in moving about our weight is balanced over the 
feet, as you learned from Chapter XV. The kind of 
shoes which one wears, therefore, makes a difference 
in one’s ability to balance the body. Shoes with broad 
toes and low, broad heels give us a broader base over 
which to balance the body and so are less apt to make 
us fall than shoes with narrow toes and high and nar¬ 
row heels. If the girls with the high heels and nar¬ 
row toes do not believe this, they should try walking a 
board set on edge. 

Causes of Falls outside Ourselves.—The boy 

who stumbled over a loose board in the walk would 
not have stumbled if the walk had been in good repair. 
The same may often be said of those who stumble or 
who miss their step about the school or the home. 


AVOIDANCE OF ACCIDENTS 213 

We must find these causes of falls and remove them 
before the falls occur. We find them sometimes in 
broken steps leading into the house or down into the 
basement, sometimes in rough stones lying in paths 
which we must follow, sometimes in loose wires or 
sticks that may cause us to trip, and sometimes in 



Fig. 68.—An exercise for the balancing centers 


holes into which we may step at night. Children are 
often as quick as grown people at. finding such causes. 

Falls from Climbing.—Children like to climb, and 
it would be unwise, perhaps, to take this pleasure 
away from them. They would miss opportunities for 
developing courage and the ability to keep cool under 
trying circumstances. But children must learn to 
use care and good judgment in this kind of play. In 
climbing about in trees one must be sure that a branch 
is strong enough to hold him up before putting his 










214 OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 

full weight upon it (Fig. 69). He must have a firm 
hold upon the next branch before releasing his hold 
where he is. And he should not attempt feats of 
climbing that are too difficult or too dangerous. 

If other children urge or dare him to climb where 
his better judgment 
tells him not to go, he 
must follow his own 
j udgment. It is better 
to be laughed at than to 
risk getting a bad fall. 

Dangers from Lad¬ 
ders.—The ladders on 
which workmen climb 
to the roofs of houses 
and the stepladders on 
which they stand in 
working on side walls 
and ceilings may cause 
accidents if they are 
not strong or if they are 
not properly placed. 
Many workmen have 
been injured from this 
cause. All ladders should be frequently inspected 
and used with care. Young children should keep off 
ladders altogether. 

Danger from Burns.—Every one knows how much 
pain may come from even a small burn. To be badly 
burned over a large part of the body is not only pain- 



Fig. 69.— Dangerous exercise un¬ 
less it is carefully done 








AVOIDANCE OF ACCIDENTS 


215 


ful, but may cause death. Burns may come from the 
things heated by fire or electricity as well as from fire 
directly. The most dangerous of the hot substances 
used about the home is, without question, hot water. 
It is used for many different purposes and is easily 
spilled in pouring from one vessel to another. Chil¬ 
dren should also keep at a safe distance when the 
water in the radiator of a car starts boiling. But it is 
in the use of fire for heating our homes and for cook¬ 
ing that we are in greatest danger of burns. 

Although small children should avoid fires alto¬ 
gether, those from eleven to thirteen years of age are 
old enough to begin the work of kindling and manag¬ 
ing them. Their first efforts, however, should be un¬ 
der the direction of older and more experienced per¬ 
sons. 

To Kindle a Fire Safely.—In kindling a fire we 
must begin with something that will start burning 
from the tiny flame of a match. The best thing for 
this is wood shavings. Upon the shavings we place 
some fine sticks or twigs and upon these some pieces 
that are slightly larger and then the fuel itself. If the 
fire is to be in a stove, a good plan is first to place in the 
back of the fire box a large stick of wood. Then in 
front of this we build up the pile of kindling, standing 
the pieces at different angles to give a better draft. 
When this is built and the fuel is placed on top, we 
apply the lighted match to the shavings (Fig. 70). 
The stove drafts should be open as the fire starts, but 
should be closed when it is burning well. A fire 


216 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


started in this way can be safely managed and will do 
no harm. But there are ways of making fires that are 
very dangerous. 

Kerosene Dangerous for Kindling Fires.—Many 
serious accidents have come from the use of kerosene, 
or coal oil, in kindling fires. Because kerosene burns 
easily and in burning can ignite large sticks of wood, 
it is sometimes used to save the time and trouble of 
preparing and laying the kindling. 
It is poured on the fuel itself and 
the match applied. Danger 
comes from the fact that the heat 
changes the kerosene into a gas, 
and this, on mixing with the air in 
the stove, explodes. The explo¬ 
sion throws the burning liquid out 
into the room and sometimes upon 
the one who is making the fire. 
While it is possible to make a fire with kerosene, this 
should not be attempted even by grown people. It 
is too dangerous. 

Danger from Gasoline.—Gasoline is even more 
dangerous than kerosene for kindling fires, and 
people have learned never to use it for this purpose. 
Most of the accidents from gasoline are from its use 
as a cleaning fluid and as a fuel in automobiles. Gas¬ 
oline dissolves grease and so can be used for removing 
grease spots, as well as for cleaning clothing that 
might shrink if it were washed in water. On account 
of the rapid evaporation of gasoline it may reach a fire 



should be laid 








AVOIDANCE OF ACCIDENTS 


217 


many feet away from where it is being used, and ignite. 
The result is instant burning, or explosion. 

Cleaning with gasoline, if done at home, should al¬ 
ways be outdoors and away from fire of any kind. 
But an even better plan is to use one of the non- 
inflammable cleaners now on the market. 

Accidents from the use of gasoline in automobiles 
are the result of its leaking from tanks and other con¬ 
tainers and getting afire. We should never strike a 
match where there is the odor of leaking gasoline. 
To prevent a possible fire when a car upsets, we must 
turn off the ignition immediately. The ignition must 
also be turned off when the gas tank in the car is being 
refilled. 

Danger from Illuminating Gas.—There are two 
great dangers from the use of manufactured, or illu¬ 
minating, gas in the home. One is from breathing 
the unburned gas and getting in this way the poison¬ 
ous carbon monoxide. The other is the danger from 
bad fires and explosions. • We protect ourselves in 
both cases by avoiding leaks in the gas pipes and the 
tubes connecting them with burners and by making 
sure that the burners are completely turned off when 
not in use. As in the case of gasoline we must never 
strike a match in a room in which there is a strong 
smell of gas. 

How Fires Spread.—Fire does its greatest damage 
when it spreads from the place where it starts to other 
places. There is no limit to the distance a fire will 
travel if there are things to burn and these are close 


218 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


enough to catch, one from the other. This is illus¬ 
trated by the plan followed, sometimes, by farmers in 
clearing their fields of rubbish. They rake the rub¬ 
bish into long rows and light these at the ends. The 
fire then travels toward the farthest end in each case, 
the burning rubbish setting fire to that which is next 
in the row (Fig. 71). 

It is the spreading of fires from where they start 
that causes the great fires 
which destroy whole for¬ 
ests and burn down 
blocks upon blocks of 
city property. You may 
have read about these 
fires and also about the 
brave men who risk their 
lives in fighting them. 
We can prevent the great 
fires as well as the small 
ones by avoiding the causes by which they start. 

To Avoid Fires.—Rules that should be followed 
by old and young alike for preventing fires are the 
following: 

1. Never start a fire close to the house or an out¬ 
building. The fire may spread to it. 

2. Never make a fire outdoors when there is a 
strong wind. Wind greatly increases the danger of 
spreading. 

3. Always extinguish an outdoor fire before leav¬ 
ing it. Campers in woods cause many fires because 



Fig. 71.—Fire spreading through 
rows of cornstalks and stubble. 


AVOIDANCE OF ACCIDENTS 219 

they do not always observe this rule. Every particle 
of the fire should be extinguished before camp is 
broken. 

4. One who smokes should never throw the lighted 
match into anything that will burn. If he smokes 
cigarettes, the burning stub must be extinguished be¬ 
fore it is thrown away. Careless smokers have been 
the cause of many bad fires. 

5. If your clothing catches fire, lie down at once so 
that some one can cover you with a coat, cloak, or some 
other heavy clothing. If this cannot be done immedi¬ 
ately, roll over and put out the flames. Never run 
with the clothing on fire. This will make it burn all 
the faster. 

6. See that hot ashes from the stove or the furnace 
do not come in contact with anything that can burn. 
A metal receiver for them is safe and should be used. 

7. Be sure that the stovepipes and flues have no 
holes through which fire can reach the wood of the 
house. 

8. If the chimney burns out, see that sparks falling 
on the roof do not set the shingles on fire. Have some 
quick way of getting water to the roof in case a fire 
starts. 

9. Use illuminating gas and gasoline with the 
greatest care. 

Treatment for Burns.—Even a slight burn may 
prove dangerous if germs get into the sore and start an 
infection. Only the greatest care can prevent this in 
some cases. In treating a burn, first smear the in- 


220 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


jured surface with picric acid ointment or unguen- 
tine. If neither of these is at hand, use baking soda 
dissolved in water. If a blister forms, the skin en¬ 
closing the fluid should not be broken, but should be 
punctured with a sterile needle when it is necessary to 
let some of this fluid out. A little of the fluid should 
remain over the sore for protection and as an aid in 
healing. 

When the blister skin finally breaks, the entire sore 
should be covered at once with some mild, germ-kill¬ 
ing substance, such as mercurochrome. This must be 
renewed every day, and the sore kept bandaged until 
it is entirely well. When burns are at all severe, we 
should quickly see a doctor. 

Accidents from Water.—More lives are lost by 
water accidents than by fire accidents. Every sum¬ 
mer there is a long list of victims, mostly boys, who 
have been accidentally drowned. In avoiding acci¬ 
dents by water, as in avoiding accidents by fire, we 
must have good rules to follow and then follow our 
rules. While one could hardly remember rules for 
avoiding all the possible accidents that might occur 
from water, there would be a great saving of life if only 
the following were remembered and put into practice. 

1. Never go swimming alone, but only when some 
experienced swimmer is with you. 

2. Never swim out over your depth unless you are 
perfectly sure that you can take care of yourself in 
deep water. 

3. Never dive into any kind of pool without first 


AVOIDANCE OF ACCIDENTS 221 

investigating the depth of the water and the condition 
of the bottom. 

4. Never undertake long feats of swimming until 
you have become an expert and then only when a 
boat is along to pick you up in case of trouble. 

5. Be careful in all kinds of boating. Be sure the 
boat itself is safe and never overload it. Avoid rock¬ 
ing the boat either for fun or in changing your posi¬ 
tion. 

6. Never try to ford a swollen stream unless you 
are sure of its depth and the condition of the bottom. 

7. In skating avoid thin ice and also the ice that is 
beginning to thaw. 

Facts Learned. — (1) To have our journey of 
growth free from serious accidents, we must early 
form the habit of being careful. (2) We must guard 
against falling. (3) We must exercise care in handling 
hot substances and use fire in ways that make it a 
friend instead of a foe. (4) In swimming, boating, 
skating, and in crossing streams we should never do 
what our better judgment forbids. 


Questions 

1. What is an accident? Why can we say that acci¬ 
dents are preventable? 

2. State the general plan of preventing accidents. 

3. Describe anything you saw on your way to school, 
around your home, or about the school building, that might 
cause one to fall. 


222 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


4. Why is climbing especially dangerous? What pre¬ 
cautions should be taken in climbing trees? 

5. When is fire a good friend? When a bad enemy? 

6. Describe a safe method of kindling a fire. 

7. Give three or more rules for avoiding destructive 
fires. 

8. A little girl playing near an open grate had her cloth¬ 
ing catch fire. An older sister ran out of the house to tell 
her father. Before he could reach her and extinguish the 
flames, she was so badly burned that she died. In what 
different ways could her life have been saved? Which of 
these would have been the best? 

9. What precautions should be taken by those in swim¬ 
ming? By those boating? By those crossing swollen 
streams? 


CHAPTER XXV 


OTHER WAYS OF PREVENTING ACCIDENTS 

After an accident has happened, it is easy, as a rule, 
to see how it could have been prevented. Studies of 
this kind are useful in keeping similar accidents from 
happening again. But serious accidents should, if 
possible, be kept from occurring in the first place. 

Accidents from Explosives.—Boys have a natural 
fondness for firecrackers, toy pistols, and small tor¬ 
pedoes, as well as for the shotguns and rifles that are 
used in killing game. The extent to which our boys 
should be permitted to indulge this fondness is a 
question upon which parents and teachers do not al¬ 
ways agree. Where the boy lives also makes a differ¬ 
ence, for the danger from this cause is far greater in 
the city or village than it is in the country. There 
are two general ways of avoiding accidents from fire¬ 
arms and explosives. These are: 

1. By keeping firearms and explosives entirely out 
of the hands of small children and also from the larger 
boys who are careless. 

2. By handling firearms or explosives as carefully 
as possible. 

Being careful with firearms includes many things 
that all hunters know. It means care in the loading 


224 OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 

and unloading of guns, care in avoiding their acci¬ 
dental discharge, and care when firing at game or at 
targets to see that people or domestic animals are not 
in range. 

Accidents from Playing with Guns.—Some rough 
boys think it good sport to point guns supposed to be 
unloaded at other boys in order to frighten them. 
While no harm is usually meant, many accidents have 
occurred in this way. It frequently happens that 
guns that are not supposed to be loaded have had loads 
in them. Make it a rule never to point a gun at any 
one or, better still, never to play with firearms of any 
kind. 

Small Wounds Dangerous.—Many of the chil¬ 
dren who lose their lives from Fourth of July acci¬ 
dents do not die from the wounds themselves, but 
from germs that cause tetanus , or lockjaw. Even the 
smallest wounds from toy pistols, firecrackers, or 
other explosives should be treated by the doctor. By 
the proper use of medicines he can kill the germs and 
overcome their poisons. In this way he can prevent 
the serious trouble that might otherwise result. 

Accidents from Automobiles.—Automobiles are 
to-day the greatest of all the causes of serious acci¬ 
dents. More than thirty thousand persons are killed 
each year in the United States by automobiles and 
not less than three hundred thousand are injured. 
Some of those killed and wounded are car occupants. 
They are hurt when their cars crash into other cars, 
are struck by trains at railroad crossings, or overturn 


WAYS OF PREVENTING ACCIDENTS 225 

and roll down embankments. The others are people 
on foot who are run over by swiftly moving cars on 
city streets and country roads. In both classes are 
many children. The main causes of automobile acci¬ 
dents are three in number, as follows: 

1. Unskilled and careless drivers. 

2. Cars in bad condition so that they cannot be 
driven in a safe manner. 

3. Carelessness on the part of pedestrians. 

In preventing accidents by automobiles, we must 
work to overcome each of these causes. 

The Trained and Skillful Driver.—The well- 
trained driver not only knows what he should do under 
any circumstance that may arise, but he has formed 
habits that enable him to do the right thing quickly 
and without having to think about it. How to start 
and stop the car, turn it in different directions, in¬ 
crease and diminish its speed, brake with the engine 
when this is necessary, signal with the hands and the 
horn, and do the other things necessary to good driv¬ 
ing, are quickly learned by one of average intelligence. 
But to form habits that will enable the driver to do 
the right thing quickly in an emergency takes time 
and much driving. 

The Careful Driver.—The careful driver is one 
who is thoughtful for the safety of his passengers and 
car and also for the safety of pedestrians. He governs 
his speed according to the condition of the road, the 
nearness of other cars, and the people who may be on 
foot. He observes the rules of the road, obeys the 


226 OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 

signals from traffic officers and stop lights, and makes 
sure that every safety device about his car is in good 
condition. He is a driver with sharp eyes, who keeps 
them constantly on the road. And he avoids situa¬ 
tions like that shown in the picture (Fig. 72). 

The Safe Car.—A driver who is very careful and 
skillful is still in danger of accidents if his car is not in 
good condition throughout. With poor brakes he 
may not stop quickly enough to avoid a collision. 
With poor lights or a dirty windshield he may go over 



Fig. 72.—How may an accident still be prevented? 


an embankment at night. With badly worn tires he 
may skid on wet roads or be overturned from a blow¬ 
out on a front wheel. With a bad steering wheel he 
may be unable to dodge another car or someone on 
foot. And with a weak horn his signals to other cars 
and to pedestrians cannot be heard. For safe driving 
the good condition of the car is just as important as 
skill and carefulness on the part of the driver. 

The Careful Pedestrian.—Many of the accidents 
to those on foot are due to carelessness on their part. 
Failing to look either way before crossing a street or a 
road, they seem to expect the driver of the car to slow 








WAYS OF PREVENTING ACCIDENTS 227 

his speed or stop entirely if this be necessary for their 
safety. The careful driver will, of course, do this if 
he sees the pedestrian in time and his brakes are in 
good condition. But the pedestrian should never 
take this risk. For his own safety he should observe 
carefully the following rules: 

1. Always look both ways for approaching cars 
before crossing the street or the public road. 

2. Observe traffic 
regulations and obey 
all signals and warnings 
of danger. 

3. Always observe 
the speed of an ap¬ 
proaching car and never 
attempt to cross the 
street unless there is 
plenty of time. Do not 
depend upon the driv¬ 
er's slowing down for 
you. 

4. In crossing a street or road at night, take extra 
precautions. The driver may not see you at all. 

To Cross City Streets Safely.—City streets should 
be crossed only at the regular crossings. Three times 
as many accidents occur from people crossing streets 
between crossings as occur at the regular places. 
So we should walk straight across, and not attempt 
to go diagonally to the farthest corner (Fig. 73). On 
most of our streets and public roads the automobiles 




Danger,, 

/ 



—- 

\ 

// 



Danger 

V/ 

// 

# ' 
/■? 

/ 

Danger 

/ 

.. 




— 



Y 

Dagger 

/ 




Fig. 73. Where would the safe 
walker’s tracks be? 

























228 OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 

pass in one direction on one side and in the opposite 
direction on the other, each row of machines keeping 
to the right. This makes it necessary for those on 
foot to look in one direction as they start across and 
in the opposite direction when they reach the middle, 

in addition to avoiding 
the street cars and rail¬ 
road trains if there are 
any. The thicker the 
traffic, the more careful 
one must be, and it is a 
great help to have a 
traffic officer at the 
worst places. His sig¬ 
nals must be heeded by 
all. 

Perhaps the greatest 
of all the causes of in¬ 
jury to foot passengers 
is from people’s step¬ 
ping from behind street 
cars, trucks, or other 
cars directly in front of 
moving automobiles (Fig. 74). Think how hard, and 
often impossible, it would be for the driver to keep 
from hitting you under such circumstances, and then 
resolve never to be careless in that respect. 

Care in Playing.—Most of the accidents to chil¬ 
dren have come from their playing in streets and roads 
that are used by cars. Interested in their play, they 



accidents to pedestrians 

















WAYS OF PREVENTING ACCIDENTS 229 

often run directly in front of a moving automobile. 
When this happens, the most careful driver is some¬ 
times unable to stop in time to prevent a serious acci¬ 
dent. This cause, like most of the others, is easily 
avoided. 

Why the Young Should Not Drive.—Many boys 
and girls are much interested in automobiles and 
know how they should be driven. They often won¬ 
der why there should be laws to keep them from driv¬ 
ing. One reason is that most boys and girls under 
sixteen have not yet learned to be as careful as auto¬ 
mobile drivers are expected to be, and another is that 
they are apt to get excited under trying circumstances. 
Besides, there are times, as when a front wheel unex¬ 
pectedly strikes a hard object, when an adult’s full 
strength is needed to hold the car in the road. Every¬ 
thing considered, driving an automobile is a kind of 
work that belongs to mature life. Ambitious boys 
and girls can well afford to wait until they are fully 
capable in all respects. 

Accidents from Street Cars and Railroad Trains. 

—Accidents from street cars and railroad trains are 
quite similar in their causes to accidents from auto¬ 
mobiles. Hence, those who are careful in the avoid¬ 
ance of automobile accidents are not likely to have ac¬ 
cidents with street cars and railroad trains. Before 
crossing the tracks we must look both ways, and we 
must take no chances by running across just ahead of 
a car or the train. We might trip and fall. And then 
we should not attempt to mount or step off street cars 


230 OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 

or trains while they are moving. Even when they 
have fully stopped we should watch our step to avoid 
falling. 

The Dangerous Railroad Crossing.—Railroad 

crossings are dangerous to those in automobiles and 
wagons, as well as to foot passengers, and many per¬ 
sons are crippled and killed at these places every year. 
The greatest care is necessary at such crossings to pre¬ 
vent serious accidents. Fortunately, the most dan¬ 
gerous of such crossings are being rendered safe for 
all by bridges and viaducts that take the railroad 
either above or below the road for wagons and auto¬ 
mobiles. 

Facts Learned.—(1) Accidents from firearms and 
explosives, accidents from automobiles, and accidents 
from street cars and railroad trains are frequently of 
the most serious kind. We must do our best, there¬ 
fore, to prevent them. (2) While most of this pre¬ 
ventive work must be done by mature people, children 
also have a part. They can look out for themselves 
and they can remind others to be careful. (3) Chil¬ 
dren who early learn to do these things, will seldom 
have their growth journey interfered with by serious 
accidents. 


Questions 

1. Describe some bad accident that you know about 
and tell how it could have been prevented. 

2. How may accidents from firearms be prevented? 

3. What two dangers are there in the use of fire- 


WAYS OF PREVENTING ACCIDENTS 231 


crackers and other explosives on the Fourth of July? Can 
you suggest some safer method of celebrating this day? 

4. Name the three main causes of automobile acci¬ 
dents. 

5. Describe the well-trained and skillful automobile 
driver. 

6. Show that safe driving also depends upon the con¬ 
dition of the car. 

7. Why is it more dangerous to cross a street between 
crossings than at the regular place? 

8. In crossing a wide two-way street or road which 
way should one look before he starts? When he reaches 
the middle? Can the same rule be followed if the road is 
narrow? Why? 

9. Give five rules for pedestrians in avoiding automo¬ 
bile accidents. Five rules for the drivers of cars. 

10. How can accidents from street cars and railroad 
trains be avoided? 


CHAPTER XXVI 
OUR MATURITY 

All journeys finally come to an end, and all travelers 
reach some kind of destination. The destination 
which we reach by our journey of growth may or may 
not be all that we hope for. It all depends upon the 
way in which we have traveled. 

Our Maturity.—Our maturity is the period follow¬ 
ing our period of growth. It lasts as long as we then 
live. It is the time when life reaches its most com¬ 
plete stage and the time when we accomplish our real 
aims and purposes. Before this time everything is 
growth and preparation. In the early part of this 
period men and women get married and start homes 
of their own, and all through this period they strive 
to attain their ambitions. It is a time when people 
should have health and strength, courage and self- 
confidence, trained minds, and the ability to work. 
Without these they are at a great disadvantage. It 
is just here that many are disappointed. 

What Maturity Means to Some and What to 
Others.—To see that maturity does not mean the 
same to all, we need only observe our young men and 
women. They are just entering this period, but how 
differently. Some are straight and well-formed; 

232 


OUR MATURITY 


233 


others are out of shape and slouch over as they walk. 
Some are enthusiastic and hopeful, while others are 
gloomy and discouraged. Some are the pictures of 
health, but others are weak and sickly or are tied to 
health-destroying habits. Many have fine minds and 
a good education, though a few, alas, can scarcely read 
and write. From these differences we must expect 
some to gain much more happiness and success as 
mature persons than others. 

Now let us ask ourselves this question: “What kind 
of mature person do I want to be?” We should ask 
this question seriously, for what one wants to be will 
have much to do with what he finally becomes . Espe¬ 
cially will this be true of those who do all they can to 
make their dreams and wishes come true. 

How Roosevelt Won the Kind of Maturity He 
Wanted.—As a small boy Theodore Roosevelt was 
weak and' sickly. He could not play rough games as 
other boys could, and in any kind of fight he always 
got the worst of it. When he was no older than you 
are now, he realized that if he was ever to amount to 
anything as a man, he must have more physical 
strength and better health. He went to work to build 
up his body and improve his health. He had many 
things to overcome, but he kept on trying. The re¬ 
sult was that he grew into a very strong and capable 
man—quick in his muscles and also in his mind (Fig. 
75). No one doubts that the .fame that Roosevelt 
enjoyed as a man was made possible by what he did as 
a boy to aid his health and growth. 


234 OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 

Our Maturity What We Make it.— Of course we 
all have to grow up and we shall do this whether we 
think much about ourselves or not. Our body cells 
take care of our growing. But our natural growth 
does not always go on in the best way, and it is not 
sufficient for us as human beings even when it does. 



Fig. 75.—Theodore Roosevelt—a strong man who started 
life as a weak boy 


To make our growth journey safe, successful, and 
happy, we must help it in a number of ways. We must 
plan for the things that are best for us when we are 
through growing, and see that our plans are carried 
out. It will help us in our planning to mention briefly 
some of the things we hope to realize as mature men 
and women. 



OUR MATURITY 


235 


All That We Should Have and Be When Grown. 

—For one thing, we should have well-formed and 
straight bodies. These will add greatly to our ap¬ 
pearance and aid us in keeping well. Then we should 
have strong muscles and steady nerves, and our bodies 
should be solid and firm throughout. This will be 
better for our health, better for our work, and better 
for helping us stand all kinds of strain. Further¬ 
more, we should have well-kept and skillful hands, 
well-shaped and healthy feet, a clean and healthy 
mouth, a healthy nose and a healthy throat, eyes that 
see well and look well, and heart and other organs 
within that easily do their different kinds of work. 

But if our growth journey has been successful and 
happy, as well as safe, we shall have more than a 
strong and healthy body. We shall have a trained 
mind, a good character, and the ability to make our 
way in the'world. 

To Become the Kind of Men and Women That 
We Want to Be.—We become the kind of men and 
women we want to be largely by the efforts we make 
before our maturity is reached. If we can keep our¬ 
selves straight all along our journey of growth, we 
shall be straight when we arrive at our destination. 
If we build firmness and strength into our bodies by 
daily exercise, we shall have these qualities as mature 
men and women. If we keep our hands, feet, mouth, 
eyes, and other organs healthy, they will be healthy 
when we are grown. And the mental power, charac¬ 
ter, and disposition which we develop while we are 


236 OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 

young are ours during maturity. Each day for the 
young person can be a day of preparation for his ma¬ 
turity. WTiether or not it is used as such is quite a 
different matter. 

The Inner Urge.—No one, apparently, can force 
the young person to do all for himself that needs to be 
done in order to arrive at an ideal maturity. The ad¬ 
vice and suggestions of parents, teachers, and friends 
will help, but for any great degree of success he must 
depend upon himself. He must have a strong and 
deep desire to make the best growth and development 
that is possible for him to make—a desire that makes 
him careful and watchful in everything pertaining to 
health, that makes him earnest in his mental work, 
and that makes him diligent in habit formation of the 
right kind. Only the right kind of inner urge can 
finally bring the journey of growth to its most desired 
destination. 

That each pupil studying this course has already 
developed such an urge is the earnest wish of the 
writer. 

Facts Learned.—(1) Maturity is the destination 
we reach by our journey of growth. (2) It is the time 
when physical growth is finished and when our life’s 
work should begin. (3) It means vastly more for 
some than for others because of the difference in daily 
preparation that has been made for this period. 


OUR MATURITY 


237 


Questions 

1. Describe the part of life which we call maturity. 

2. Which is more important, the period of growth or 
the period of maturity? Give reason for your answer. 

3. Account for the differences which we find in the 
health of mature people. 

4. How did the late President Roosevelt reach the kind 
of maturity that he desired? 

5. Enumerate some of the things we should have and 
be when we are mature. 

6. In becoming the kind of men and women we want to 
be, why can we not depend upon growth alone? 

7. What is meant by the inner urge? How do we ob¬ 
tain it? 

8. Write two or three paragraphs on the subject: “How 
I may become the kind of grown person I want to be.” 


CHAPTER XXVII 


GROWING AND LIVING 

Perhaps you have begun to imagine that our jour¬ 
ney of growth is a difficult one to make. To be sure, 
there are many things to watch out for while we are 
making it, but it is really quite easy, as.you will pres¬ 
ently see. 

Our Journey of Growth and Our Journey of Life. 

—Our journey of growth is but a part of a much 
longer and even more wonderful journey—the jour¬ 
ney of life (Fig. 76). Any kind of journey may, as 
you know, be broken into parts. We might, in travel¬ 
ing from New York to Chicago, go first to Cleveland. 
Stopping there for a while, we might then travel on to 
Chicago. This would break the entire trip into two 
parts, the first reaching to Cleveland. Our journey 
of life is likewise made up of parts, the first of which 
we have been studying. While we are growing up, 
we are also living. Until maturity is reached, the 
two journeys are the same, or, to speak exactly, the 
one is included in the other. This is why helpful 
growth and development are easy and simple. All 
that we need to do for good progress on our growth 
journey is to live as we should from day to day. 

Living and Growing.—The young person who 

238 


GROWING AND LIVING 


239 


lives right in all respects will grow right at the same 
time. There is no question about this. Right living 
keeps the body healthy, and good health is our best aid 
to growth. But right living does not concern itself 
alone with the present. It looks ahead; it prepares 
for the future. Right living during the growing 
period, then, will not limit itself to physical growth. 



It will provide for mental growth and the other things 
needed during our maturity. It will be easy, there¬ 
fore, for us to fit our plans for growing into our regular 
scheme for living. 

Those who have studied the problems of living are 
agreed upon certain principles that should be prac¬ 
ticed from day to day. These principles, properly ap¬ 
plied, will give the needed aid for all our different 
kinds of growth. Of course we should know about 
these principles. 







240 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


Principle I. Living Healthfully.—Living health¬ 
fully is the broadest of our principles and for some it 
is the one most difficult to apply. It means supply¬ 
ing the body with everything it needs, such as food, 
water, air, sunshine, exercise, sleep, and protecting it 
from all kinds of harm. Although we have already 
learned much about healthful living, there will be 
more to learn as we become older. The second book 
in this course continues the study of this principle. 

Principle II. Living Cheerfully and Happily. 
—The principle of happy and cheerful living refers 
especially to our life of feeling, or emotion. We are, 
as you know, constantly experiencing feelings of some 
kind, either pleasant or unpleasant. If these are of 
an agreeable or happy nature, the effects upon growth 
and development are good. They improve the health, 
make all our work easier, and aid greatly in the build¬ 
ing of a happy disposition. 

Principle III. Living Earnestly.—We must 
agree with the poet, Longfellow, that “life is real, life 
is earnest.” * It has problems that are hard to solve 
and rough places that are hard to pass over. We must 
make good use of our time and work hard when this is 
necessary. And since our time and energy are both 
limited we must use them upon worthwhile things. 

Principle IV. Living Honestly.—Honesty is 
said to be the keynote of character. If we are honest 
in our conversation and honest in our dealings with 

* From “The Psalm of Life.” The entire poem may be read in con¬ 
nection with this chapter. 


GROWING AND LIVING 


241 


others, the other elements of character will almost 
take care of themselves. The greatest rewards of be¬ 
ing honest are, of course, to ourselves—rewards in the 
confidence which people have in us and rewards in 
character formation of the right kind. 

Principle V. Living Carefully.—Nearly every¬ 
thing we use in our living has in it an element of dan¬ 
ger. Fire, water, electricity, gas, machinery of all 
kinds, tools for cutting, domestic animals, railroad 
trains, and automobiles can all cause serious accidents 
and even death. They are good servants but hard 
masters. Any one of them can interfere greatly with 
our journey of growth. We use them without injury 
to ourselves or danger to others by living carefully. 

Principle VI. Living Courageously.—Although 
we should protect ourselves by carefulness and fore¬ 
thought, we must not let foolish fears weaken our 
nerves or excite us when we face actual danger. 
Every one should have courage enough to protect him 
from any fear of what might happen in ordinary work 
and living. With this start he can develop the greater 
courage necessary in dangerous occupations, such as 
the construction of buildings and the operation of ma¬ 
chinery. 

Principle VII. Living Sensibly.—Of course we 
can live sensibly in a number of ways. One way is to 
practice thrift, saving our money in order to obtain a 
financial start. Another way is to form no bad habits 
—those that waste money, or health, or that cause 
trouble with other people. And another way is to 


242 


OUR JOURNEY OF GROWTH 


seek medical aid when this is needed. We live sen¬ 
sibly in a general way when we plan always to do what 
is best under all circumstances. 

Principle VIII. Living Helpfully.—Since in our 
daily living we are constantly needing and receiving 
help, it is only fair that we be helpful in our turn. 
But in helping others we also help ourselves. We be¬ 
come more thoughtful for others and less selfish, and 
we develop habits of dependability. Being helpful 
to others is also a source of great happiness. 

Principle IX. Living Attractively.—Who does 
not desire the admiration and approval of those about 
him? This natural feeling quite often causes us to 
do things of great value to ourselves. To make our¬ 
selves physically attractive, we keep clean, dress 
neatly, and keep our bodies in good shape. To be 
mentally attractive, we cultivate our minds and use 
good judgment and tact in our treatment of others. 
And to be socially attractive, we are kind and sympa¬ 
thetic and do what we can to make others happy. All 
this tends to develop qualities and powers that will 
help us get on in the world. WTien it is not overdone, 
it is a most valuable principle. 

Principle X. Living Enthusiastically.—To some 
persons life is dull and gray. To others it is bright 
and interesting. The difference lies largely in the 
persons. One gives little and obtains little in return. 
The other gives much and receives much. To live en¬ 
thusiastically is to put joy, happiness, good will, kind¬ 
liness, and helpfulness into our living. We shall se- 


GROWING AND LIVING 243 

cure a good return upon these investments. We may 
well believe with Emerson that “nothing great was 
ever achieved without enthusiasm.” * 

Facts Learned.—(1) Our journey of growth is the 
first division of a larger journey—the journey of life. 
(2) Because of this fact our plans for growth can be 
included in our plans for living. (3) By living health¬ 
fully, happily, earnestly, honestly, carefully, cour¬ 
ageously, sensibly, helpfully, attractively, and en¬ 
thusiastically, we shall grow as we should and reach, 
finally, our desired maturity. (4) Growing in the 
best way is thus accomplished by living in the best 
way through the growing period. 

Questions 

1. What is the relation between our journey of growth 
and our journey of life? How does this simplify the work 
of looking after growth? 

2. Which three of the principles of right living do you 
consider the most important? Give reasons for your se¬ 
lection. 

3. Name two or three other principles that might be 
added to the list. 

4. What kinds of growth are secured by Principle I? 
By Principle IV ? 

5. Which of the principles aid in mental growth? 
Which ones in the development of a good disposition? 

* Essay: “Circles.” 


TABLE I 


WEIGHT —HEIGHT —AGE TABLE FOR BOYS OF SCHOOL AGE 


Height 

(inches) 

Average 
weight for 
height (lbs.) 

5 Years 

6 Years 

7 Years 

8 Years 

9 Years 

10 Years 

11 Years 

12 Years 

13 Years 

14 Years 

15 Years 

16 Years 

17 Years 

18 Years 

19 Years 

Height 

(inches) 

38 

34 

34 

34 







' 







38 

39 

35 

35 

35 














39 

15" 

36 

36 

36 














40~ 

41 

38 

38 

38 

38 













41 

42 

39 

39 

39 

39 

39 












42 

43 

41 

41 

41 

41 

41 












43 

44 

44 

44 

44 

44 

44 












44 

45 

46 

46 

46 

46 

46 

46 











45 

46 

48 

47 

48 

48 

48 

48 











46 

47 

50 

49 

50 

50 

50 

50 

50 










47 

48 

53 


52 

53 

53 

53 

53 










48 

49 

55 


55 

55 

55 

55 

55 

55 









49 

50 

58 


57 

58 

58 

58 

58 

58 

58 








50 

51 

61 



61 

61 

61 

61 

61 

61 








51 

52 

64 



63 

64 

64 

64 

64 

64 

64 







52 

53 

68 



66 

67 

67 

67 

67 

68 

68 







53 

54 

71 




70 

70 

70 

70 

71 

71 

72 






54 

55 

74 




72 

72 

73 

73 

74 

74 

74 






55" 

56 

78 




75 

76 

77 

77 

77 

78 

78 

80 





56 

57 

82 





79 

80 

81 

81 

82 

83 

83 





57 

58 

85 





83 

84 

84 

85 

85 

86 

87 





58 

59 

89 






87 

88 

89 

89 

90 

90 

90 




59 

1ST 

94 






91 

92 

92 

93 

94 

95 

96 




60" 

61 

99 







95 

96 

97 

99 

100 

103 

106 



61 

62 

104 







100 

101 

102 

103 

104 

107 

111 

116 


62 

63 

111 







105 

106 

107 

108 

110 

113 

118 

123 

127 

63 

64 

117 








109 

111 

113 

115 

117 

121 

126 

130 

64 

65 

123 








114 

117 

118 

120 

122 

127 

131 

134 

"65 

66 

129 









119 

122 

125 

128 

132 

136 

139 

66 

67 

133 









124 

128 

130 

134 

136 

139 

142 

67 

68 

139 










134 

134 

137 

141 

143 

147 

68 

69 

144 










137 

139 

143 

146 

149 

152 

69 

70 

147 










143 

144 

145 

148 

151 

155 

70 

71 

152 










148 

150 

151 

152 

154 

159 

71 

72 

157 











153 

155 

156 

158 

163 

72 

73 

163 











157 

160 

162 

164 

167 

73 

74 

169 











160 

164 

168 

170 

171 

74 


Prepared by Bird T. Baldwin, Ph.D., and Thomas D. Wood, M.D., 
from records of 74,000 healthy American boys and 55,000 healthy American 

244 














































































TABLE II 

WEIGHT —HEIGHT —AGE TABLE FOR GIRLS OF SCHOOL AGE 


Height 

(inches) 

Average 
Weight for 
height (lbs.) 

5 Years 

6 Years 

7 Years 

8 Years 

9 Years 

10 Years 

11 Years 

12 Years 

13 Years 

14 Years 

15 Years 

16 Years 

17 Years 

18 Years 

Height 

(inches) 

38 

39 

33 

34 

33 

34 

33 

34 













38 

39 

40 

36 

36 

36 

36 












~40~ 

41 

37 

37 

37 

37 












41 

42 

39 

39 

39 

39 












42 

43 

41 

41 

41 

41 

41 











43 

44 

42 

42 

42 

42 

42 











44 

45 

45 

45 

45 

45 

45 

45 










45 

46 

47 

47 

47 

47 

48 

48 










46 

47 

50 

49 

50 

50 

50 

50 

50 









47 

48 

52 


52 

52 

52 

52 

53 

53 








48 

49 

55 


54 

54 

55 

55 

56 

56 








49 

50 

58 


56 

56 

57 

58 

59 

61 

62 







~ 50 ~ 

51 

61 



59 

60 

61 

61 

63 

65 







51 

52 

64 



63 

64 

64 

64 

65 

67 







52 

53 

68 



66 

67 

67 

68 

68 

69 

71 






53 

54 

71 




69 

70 

70 

71 

71 

73 






54 

55 

75 




72 

74 

74 

74 

75 

77 

78 





55 

56 

79 





76 

78 

78 

79 

81 

83 





56 

57 

84 





80 

82 

82 

82 

84 

88 

92 




57 

58 

89 






84 

86 

86 

88 

93 

96 

101 



58 

59 

95 






87 

90 

90 

92 

96 

100 

103 

104 


59 

60 

101 






91 

95 

95 

97 

101 

105 

108 

109 

111 

~60~ 

61 

108 







99 

100 

101 

105 

108 

112 

113 

116 

61 

62 

114 







104 

105 

106 

109 

113 

115 

117 

118 

62 

63 

118 








110 

110 

112 

116 

117 

119 

120 

63 

64 

121 








114 

115 

117 

119 

120 

122 

123 

64 

65 

125 








118 

120 

121 

122 

123 

125 

126 

~65~ 

66 

129 









124 

124 

125 

128 

129 

130 

66 

67 

133 









128 

130 

131 

133 

133 

135 

67 

68 

138 









131 

133 

135 

136 

138 

138 

68 

69 

142 










135 

137 

138 

140 

142 

69 

70 

144 










136 

138 

140 

142 

144 

~70~ 

71 

145 










138 

140 

142 

144 

145 

71 


girls. Used through the courtesy of the American Child Health Associa¬ 
tion. 


245 









































































































INDEX 


Accidents, 210-231 
Automobiles, 224-229 
Causes of, 210, 211 
From falling, 211-214 
From fires, 214-219 
From guns and explosives, 223, 
224 

From water, 220, 221 
To the eyes, 142, 143 
Adenoids, 153 
Adolescence, 10, 11 
Air, 62 

Alcohol, 82-84 
Effect on health, 84 
Effect on work, 83 
In “home brew,” 83 
Why sale of prohibited, 83 
Antibodies, 76 
Appetite, 54 
Arches, 124-126 
Care of, 125, 126 
Aspirin, 87 
Astigmatism, 146 

Babyhood, 10 
Balancing, 213 
Baseball, 91 
Baths, 168, 169 
Beer, 83 
Burns, 214-220 
Dangers from, 214, 215 
Treatment of, 219, 220 
Butter, 49 

Candy, 53, 54 
Caffein, 88 
Cells, 5 

Character, 94, 208 


Checkers, 201 
Cheerfulness, 54, 55 
As a health principle, 240 
At meals, 55 

Chickens, effect of light on, 58-60 
Childhood, 10 
Clothing, 171, 172 
Care of, 173 
Uses of, 172 
Cod liver oil, 52, 62 
Cold spreader, the, 189 
Colds, 158, 183-192 
Contagious, 183 
Habit formation and, 191 
How caught, 188 
How cured, 189 
Overprotection and, 188 
Resistance and, 181, 184-192 
Weapons against, 184, 185 
Complexion, care of, 171 
Cooperation, 207 
Corns, 123 
Courage, 202, 203 
Cuticle, 165, 167 

Dental floss, 135 
Dentist, when see, 136 
Dependability, 204, 205 
Dermis, 167, 168 
Diet, 47-56 
Teeth and the, 139 
Digestion and exercise, 42 
Diphtheria, 180 
Serum, 180 
Vaccine, 180 
Dreamland, 66 
Dreams, 66, 67 
Drivers of cars, 225, 226 


246 


INDEX 


247 


Drug habits, 80-89 
As traps, 80-88 
How broken, 88 
How caused, 80 
Nature of, 80 
Drugs, 80-88 
Habit forming, 80 
Pain killing, 86, 87 

Ears, 152, 159-163 
Care of, 160-162 
Habit formation for, 162 
Parts of, 169 
To clean, 161 
To protect at night, 162 
Earwax, 161 
Emotions, 196 
Control of, 197 
Epiglottis, 152 

Eustachian tubes, 153, 159, 160 
Explosives, Fourth of July, 223 
Exercise, 37-^46 
Digestion and, 42 
Games for, 44 
Good shape and, 43 
Muscles and, 39, 40 
Nerves and, 41, 42 
Waste removal and, 43 
When harmful, 44 
Work as, 45 
Eye glasses, 147-149 
Eyes, 141-151 
Accidents to, 141 
As aids to beauty, 141, 142, 148 
Children’s, 149 
Defects, 146, 147 
Diseases of, 143-145 
Habit formation for, 150 
How protected, 142 
Light and the, 149 
To care for, 142-150 
To rest, 148 
Eyestrain, 145-148 
Causes of, 146 
Effect on appearance. 145 
Effect on nerves, 145 
How relieved, 146-148 


Falls, 211-214 
Causes of, 211, 212 
From climbing, 213 
From faulty footwear, 212 
From rough walks and roads, 212 
Fat, 49 
Feet, 117-129 
Advantages of two, 117 
As aids to balancing, 117, 118 
Habit formation for, 128 
Health and the, 126 
Shoes and the, 120-123 
Troubles of the, 120-123 
Uses of the, 117-119 
Fever, 176 
Firearms, 223 
Fires, 215-220 
How avoid, 218 
How kindle, 215 
Spreading of, 218 
Foods, 47-56 
Building, 49 
Energy, 49 
For children, 50, 51 
Liver as food, 52 
Origin of, 47, 48 
Protective, 53 
Purposes of, 48 
Fruits, 51 

Game, the health, 98-106 
How we play, 99 
Rules of, 102-105 
When we win, 98 
With what we play, 98, 99 
Gas, illuminating, 217 
Gasoline, 216, 217 
General resistance, 186 
Germs, 170, 174, 185 
Diseases caused by, 174 
Protection of skin from, 170 
Resistance against, 174-181 
Sunlight and, 61 

To keep hands from spreading, 

112, 113 

To keep out of eyes, 143-145 
Girlhood, 10 


248 


INDEX 


Glasses, eye, 147, 149 
Golden Rule, 16, 190 
Of hygiene, 190 
Growing and living, 238-243 
Growing up straight, 28-36. 

Growth, 1-5 

Bodily shape and, 28-36 
Building blocks of, 4, 5 
Causes of, 4 
Changes during, 1, 2 
Effect of outdoor air on, 62 
Effect of sunlight on, 57-64 
Foods and, 48-56 
Habit formation and, 73-79 
Habit-forming drugs and, 80-89 
How like a journey, 8 
How we help, 26 
Human, 5 
In animals, 1, 2 
In height and weight, 20-27 
In resistance, 175-182 
In white rats, 2-4 
Mental, 193-209 
Milk for, 51 
Play and, 90-97 
Rate of, 22, 23 
Sleep and, 66-72 
Time needed for, 7 
Tobacco and, 84 
To make solid and firm, 37-46 
Guns, 224 


Habit formation, 73-89 
By the young, 78, 79 
For colds, 191 
For ears, 162 
For eyes, 150 
For feet, 128 
For hands, 115 

For mental traits and character, 
208 

For the mind, 200 
For the nose, 172 
For the skin, 172 
For the teeth, 139 
For the throat, 162 


Habits, 73-79 
As part of ourselves, 77 
Bad, 74 
Drug, 80-89 

For and against health, 76 
Good, 74 
How broken, 77 
How formed, 77 
Nature of, 73 
Of honesty, 75 
Of work, 75 
Social, 74 
Worth-while, 78 
Hair, 166, 171 
Care of, 171 
Hands, 107-116 
Advantages of two, 111 
Arms and, 109 
As organs for grasping, 107 
Brain and, 109 
Growth of, 111 

Habit formation for, 114, 115 
Health and, 112 
Meaning of to race, 108 
Mouth and the, 110 
Tools and the, 108, 109 
Uses of, 111 

Happiness, 15, 16, 54, 55 
As a principle of living, 240 
Mistakes about, 16 
Hardwood trees, 37, 38 
Health and exercise, 37-46 
Health game, the, 98-105 
Height, 20-27 
Growth in, 22 
How measured, 20, 21 
Holland, J. G., 194 
Homes, 64 
Honesty, 75, 76, 208 
Hygienic school desk, the, 35 

Imbalance, 146 
Infancy, 9 

Intelligence, 193-196 
Growth in, 194 
Tests for, 194 
Iodine, 170 


INDEX 


249 


Jenner, Dr. Edward, 178, 179 
Journey, automobile, 8, 13 
Journey, our growth, 7-18 
All that it should be, 13-18 
How made happy, 15, 16 
How made safe, 14 
How made successful, 15 
Main thing on, 13 
Rules for, 17, 18 
Safety not enough on, 14 
Stages of, 9 
Threefold aim on, 16 

Knowledge, growth in, 216 
Kerosine, 195 

Ladders, 214 
Light, 57-64 
Infra red, 64 
Sun, 57-64 
Ultra-violet, 61 
Lindbergh, 203 

Linings, nose and throat, 185, 186 
Liver as food, 52 
Living and growing, 238-241 
Local resistance, 186 
Longsight, 146 

Manual training, 112 
Maturity, 11, 232-237 
All it should be, 235 
How we get the kind we want, 
235 

What it means, 232 
When successful, 17 
Mental attack, 198 
Mental growth, 193-209 
Health and, 199 
How it is helped, 197 
Kinds of, 193 
Schools aids to, 199 
Mental training, 197-200 
Value of, 200 

Mental traits and character, 202, 
209 

Habit formation for, 208 
Mental work, 198 


Mercurochrome, 170 
Midday nap, 71 
Milk, 52, 53, 139 
Mind, 193-209 

Habit formation and the, 200 
Mouth, 130-140 
As aid to beauty, 130 
Parts of, 130 
Rinsing of, 135 
Uses of, 130 

Mouth breathing, 154-155 
Habit of, 155 

Muscles and exercise, 39, 40 
Myopia, 149 

Nerves and exercise, 41, 42 
Nails, 166 
Finger, 114 
Toe, 127 

Nervous impulses, 41 
Nicotine,. 84 
Nose, 152-161 
Habit formation for, 162 
How blow, 160 
Obstructions in, 156 
Nostrils, 153, 156 

Organs, 3, 4 
Grasping, 107 
Outdoor air, 62 
Outdoor life, 57-64 

Patience, 206 

Pedestrians, accidents to, 226-228 
Precautions for, 227 
Perspiration, 168 
Pharynx, 153 
Play, 90-97 

Character building and, 94 
Health and, 98-106 
Music and, 94 
Purposes of, 92 
Rules for healthful, 95 
Science and, 93 
Work and, 95, 96 
Playing, care in, 228 
Pope, Alexander, 30 


250 


INDEX 


Pores, skin, 168 
Position, 33-35 
Sitting, 34 
Standing, 33 
Posture, 28-36 

Principles of right living, 240-243 
Prism, 61 
Prohibition, 83 

Railroad crossings, 230 
Railroad trains, accidents from, 229 
Reaction, skin, 169 
Resistance, 174-182 
Age and, 174, 175 
By having diseases, 175 
By slow method, 177 
By vaccination, 177-181 
Colds and, 183-191 
General, 186 
Local, 186 

Methods of increase, 175-181 
Specific, 181, 186 
Rickets, 60 
Right living, 240-243 
Roosevelt, 234 

Scales, 21 
Schick test, 180 
School desk, 35 
Self-confidence, 202, 203 
Semicircular canals, 211 
Shape, bodily, 28-36 
Growth and, 30-32 
How keep good, 29 
How one grows out of, 30 
Rules for good, 29, 31-35 
To improve, 28-36 
Shoes, 120-123 
Faulty, a cause of falls, 212 
Foot troubles and, 120 
How break, 122 
How select, 121 
Uses of, 121 
Shortsight, 146 
Six-year molars, 132, 137 
Skin, 165-173 
Care of, 168-171 


Habit formation for, 172 
Protection of, 170 
Reaction of, 170 
Structure of, 165-168 
Uses of, 165 
Sleep, 66-72 
Aids to sound, 70, 71 
Amount needed, 68, 69 
Effect on work, 68 
How obtain enough, 69, 70 
Value of, 67 
Smallpox, 179 
Sneezing, 190 
Snoring, 154 
Soft palate, 152 
Softwood tress, 37, 38 
Spectrum, 61 

Sportsmanship in health game, 104 
Sugar, 49 
Starch, 49 
Stockings, 123 
Street cars, 229 
Sunlight, 57-64 
Effect on chickens, 58, 59 
Effect on germs, 60 
Effect on growth, 58 
Effect on plants, 58 
Precautions against, 60, 63 
Trip to the earth, 57 
What it does for earth, 57, 58 
Sweat, 168 

Sweat glands, 166, 168 


Tables, height and weight, 224, 245 
Teen age, 10, 11 
Teeth, 131-140 
Care of, 133-139 
Diet and, 139 
Habit formation and, 139 
Irregular, 136 
Kinds of, 131-133 
Temporary teeth, 131, 132, 137 
Care of, 137 
Tennis, 199 
Throat, 157, 158 
Habit formation for, 162 


INDEX 


251 


Tobacco, 84-86 
Effect on boys, 85 
Effect on growth, 84, 85 
Why young should avoid, 86 
Toeing straight ahead, 124 
Tomato juice, 51 
Tonsils, 153, 156 
Tools, 92, 93, 108, 109 
Toothbrush, 133, 138 
Care of, 138 

Tooth brushing, 133-135 
Time required, 134 
Tooth paste, 138 
Toothpick, 135 
Tooth powder, 138 
Trachoma, 144 
Traffic, 152, 227 
Trains, railroad, 229 
Traps, drug, 81-87 
Alcohol, 82 
Aspirin, 87 
Pain killer, 86, 87 
Tobacco, 85 

Trees, lessons from, 31, 37 
Trip, automobile, 8, 13 


Vaccination, 177-191 
Smallpox, 179 
Diphtheria, 180 
Vitamins, 50, 51 
In cod liver oil, 52, 63 
In milk, 51 
In fruits, 51, 52 
In vegetables, 53 

Walking, 124 
Water, 49, 53 
Accidents from, 220, 221 
Weight, 20-27 
Health and, 26 
How obtained, 21 
Meaning of, 25 
White corpuscles, 87 
Will power, 196 
Wine, 83 

Work, 39, 45, 75, 95, 96, 198 
As exercise, 45 
As play, 95, 96 
Hard, 39 
Mental, 198 

Workshop for boys, 92, 93 
Worry, 26, 71 


Urge, the inner, 73, 236 

















* 



















































































